


Anything Could Happen

by Bremmatron33



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Emetophobia, Humanformers, Mild Gore, More like Domestic AU, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-02 16:54:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 58,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5256158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bremmatron33/pseuds/Bremmatron33
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Right after Patch Dreadwing  begs Knock Out to come away with him but things start adding up for the medic and he decides he might not want to deal with the Cons anymore. They always say that death is just a new adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jetpack Blues

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a drabble but got way too long so now it is its own story yay.

It was raining heavily that night so the ping to meet Dreadwing on the roof was a strange one. As soon as Starscream had returned he was already begging for a T-Cog replacement but it was already late for him and Knock Out simply didn’t want to start a surgery with a drowsy processor. Hopefully, the jet hadn’t gone and injured himself because with only an hour of rest under his belt Knock Out was still not at working form and if the Commander caught him working on another mech when he had been turned down Starscream would throw a fit. Dreadwing had been acting strangely since Starscream’s return though. Knock Out of course knew it was simply his disdain for the old commander but Dreadwing was usually smarter than that. Still, Dreadwing had been helping him get over Breakdown’s loss so Knock Out was happy to help the other Con even if it was with something conspiratorial.

As he pushed open the hatch to the roof he could see Dreadwing Standing in the rain looking at the lighting as it cut across the sky. “What a lovely night to be outside isn’t it Dreadwing?” The jet turned with a sneer on his face but at first sight, it melted into a somber smile and then a placid frown. It looked like the face of a mech who had gotten what he was hoping for but was not yet ready for it.

“I am sorry to bring you out in this rain Doctor but I don’t wish to be overheard.”

“No problem a warm solvent shower later won’t solve. I understand your caution but what will we be discussing that would cause you to think it was needed.” As Knock Out drew closer Dreadwing pulled him into his arms and held him close.

“Doctor, how is it that you have forgiven me so easily when it is my fault that Breakdown’s end was so terrible?” Knock Out had been more than a comfort since his return to the Nemesis and the loss of his brother and even more so after the loss of Breakdown. The two had relied upon each other and had mourned together in the darkness of each other’s rooms. They kept each other warm at night and kept each other sane during the day and yet Dreadwing never understood how he was able to forgive him so easily. He was still if only in his own processor responsible for Breakdown’s death. Knock Out was silent for a moment and he felt the jet’s grip tighten around him. “Have you forgiven me?”

“I’ve never blamed you, I know Breakdown too well. The only mech I am angry at is Megatron! If he had sent me and Breakdown I would have killed her. He knows the work I've done in the past and she’s no match for me. Especially with the way she viewed me, she wouldn’t have seen it coming. Don’t worry though she’ll show her face and when she does I will get to bring her back alive and then I can kill her as many times as I want.” It was the slight warmth of the Doctor’s voice that sent a chill through Dreadwing’s circuits.

“Of course Doctor.”

“Why are we here Dreadwing if Starscream’s return is causing you problems we can talk inside. I doubt Soundwave will be listening in, he happens to be off pouting himself.”

“Doctor I don’t want to stay here any longer.” Knock Out looked at the jet with wide optics, had Dreadwing’s loyalty finally run out?

“We really should talk inside.”

“I don’t need to talk I know what I want and the only way I can stay here is if he dies.”

“I can do that for you. He desperately wants his new T-cog and while the surgery is quite simple if let’s say…. a very deranged human body snatcher escapes for a few minutes and tears him to pieces well then….these things happen.” A smile found it’s way to Dreadwings face, Knock Out was the best liar the Decepticons had and he was such a deadly foe when he wanted to be. Starscream already saw the medic as a friend, he would never suspect that he was walking right to his death. Still, Megatron knew Knock Out was easy to sway and he would most likely accuse the two of conspiring together and the Leader would not be happy. There was a good chance the Doctor could sweet talk their leader into not caring but Dreadwing didn’t want to risk it, he had better plans.

“I know you prefer a certain lifestyle, you prefer security, but I want to leave quietly and I want to leave with you...tonight. You know as well as I that if you come with me they will perish in no time. Starscream can’t fly, Soundwave can’t evade forever, and aside from you, no other Decepticon medic has been heard from in centuries. Megatron will be alone and that will likely drive him mad leaving him an easy target. Without you Doctor they are nothing but corpses in the making.” Knock Out smiled his fangs showing at the sides, Dreadwing did know how to sweet talk him he would give the jet that. As for his plan, however, it had a few holes.

“If we leave and I am so important as you say what will keep them from following us, they already have the Keys what but the Autobots will keep them here on earth.”

“Forgive me Doctor for saying this but they will not follow us because they will not care. They won’t realize their mistake till it will already be too late.” Knock Out went silent again. Dreadwing was right of course and what did he have to keep him here but a monster wearing his dead lover’s face. “We have both lost everything to these mechs that we called comrades it’s about time we left and lived our own lives. I care about you Knock Out and I don’t want you to waste your existence going mad while you exact your wrath. It hurts you more than it helps and deep down you know it.” Knock Out did know it and it was a tempting offer, run away with Dreadwing and live in peace till everything sorted itself out, that had been the plan with Breakdown before the fool had accidentally answered the Nemesis comm. Still, it almost felt too perfect, like a plan falling right into place. It was all just a little too convenient. Knock Out knew Arachnid and she was not the type to leave loose ends; if she had been able to kill Breakdown she would have come back for Dreadwing. Then, of course, there was Starscream who had already made deals with MECH before. MECH being there at the right place and the right time was suspicious enough on its own. Then Starscream so simply got his servos on the perfect thing he needed to gain access to the Autobot base to get the Keys and come back a hero. It was all so convenient. Like it was all planned from the beginning and he was the only one not apart of the plan. They hadn’t told him the first time Breakdown was captured either. Knock Out didn’t trust Dreadwing anymore. It hadn’t been the first time a mech had fallen in love with him and had killed the mech he was with at the time just to get them out of the picture as if that made a difference. That’s the way he and Breakdown had met...sort of. Breakdown didn’t have to actually kill anyone but he did beat up almost thirty of the Decepticons heaviest hitters just to get a kiss... the rest just happened on its own. One of those mechs had been Dreadwing.

“Dreadwing why do you feel so guilty about Breakdown?”

“Because Doctor I couldn’t save him.”

“You tried your best didn’t you?”

“I….I was stuck to a tree I told him not to run off but he did anyway. I’ve told you all of this before.”

“Yes, of course.” Something had changed within the Doctor there was no more warmth, no more feeling at all. “I am not going with you Dreadwing I would rather stay here at least then I know that they’re lying to my face.”

“What are you saying Knock Out?” Dreadwing tried to grab at the doctor but Knock Out had his saw out. He swung at Dreadwing. “Now of all times, you think I killed Breakdown?”

“No I don’t think you killed him but I don’t think you tried to save him either.”

“Please Doctor you are all I have.”

“Not any more so LEAVE!” Knock Out was backing up as Dreadwing continued to advance despite the threat of the medic’s saw.

“PLEASE let me make you believe me….you can patch into me anything to ease your worries!”

Knock Out swung again and this time caught the jet in the shoulder Dreadwing roared and knocked the medic away freeing the blade from his chassis. Knock Out skidded on the wet metal and slipped off the edge. Dreadwing lunged forward and grabbed the medic’s servo, slick with rain. Panicking from both the fall and from Dreadwing Knock Out pulled out his staff from his back and buried it into the metal of the Nemesis desperate to give himself something better to grip onto but the electrical shocks emanating from the staff traveled through the metal of the ship to Dreadwing, making the jet’s chassis twitch and jerk in shock. Dreadwing let go and fell back. With all of his weight now on his staff, it snapped and Knock Out fell only leaving a few deep scratches on the Nemesis’ deck as he did so.

“Here you are Dreadwing, WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THE ROOF?” Dreadwing onlined his optics and stared into the optics of his Master blistering with rage. It was bright out, he looked away from them to the scratches on the roof and remembered his failure, the young doctor was gone they were all doomed.

“Just letting out some frustration Lord Megatron.” The leader seemed taken aback by the honest answer it was not often that Cons would admit to their emotions.

“Better on nothing than on your comrades do you understand Dreadwing?”

“Of course.”

“Good~ Have you seen Knock Out?” Dreadwing touched the scratches and bit at his lower lip, the ship had long since moved on from the spot where the young medic had fallen even if he could retrace his steps he may never find the Doctor.

“No my Lord.”

“Ugh, I hate to think what he’s up to now, check in with Soundwave and see where he ran off to and fetch him for me Starscream’s whining is getting on my nerves.”

“Yes my Lord.”

* * *

 

“So wait I’m confused you’re giving us the hammer because you want us to go find Knock Out for you? Most of team prime was thinking the exact same thing but no one had any of the right questions. So Smokescreen, being the mech he was, restated the obvious.

“I have looked for hours to no avail I feel he doesn’t want to be found by Cons. If you do come across him please do not harm him.” Dreadwing was looking away embarrassed and unconfident, nothing like his usual self.

Ratchet looked at the jet, he knew that stammering guilty look of mechs who had done something terrible that they hadn’t meant to do. “Is he injured Dreadwing?” If Knock Out was seriously injured would he come begging to the Autobots like Starscream or would his pride kill him first, Ratchet was unsure?

“Most likely.”

“But you said he went missing how would you know? Doesn't Knock Out run off all the time?” This didn’t feel right to Bumblebee the Con was not giving them all the information.

“The reason for his disappearance is irrelevant but he will most likely not return to the Decepticons. However, you will need his help if you truly wish to restore Cybertron to its fullest.”

“What does that mean?” Arcee looked to Bulkhead since he was the Bot who knew most about the cherry medic but the bruiser just shrugged.

 “It is not for me to explain so it is time I make my leave.” Dreadwing flew off without another word. The group continued to stare at each other quizzically the Decepticons were really kicking themselves in the aft these cycles.

As they returned to HQ talk of the Keys and Optimus' reveal of the Omega Lock enraptured everyone opening up more and more questions but while Ratchet had a few holes punched in his spark by Optimus’ secrecy it was not like it hadn’t happened before. Knock Out might have been a Con but he was first and foremost a medic and Dreadwing’s attitude had left Ratchet suspicious. He scanned for the Decepticons signal but found nothing close, finally something small not exactly a spark signature but an emergency beacon. Ratchet felt his spark dim, emergency beacons were not good signs. He looked at the location of the signal and his spark flared like a solar fire. He slammed his servo on the desk, venting heavily, no wonder Dreadwing didn’t want to go get Knock Out. He honestly couldn’t believe that a mech who valued honor as much as Dreadwing would be such a coward.

“What’s the matter Ratchet?” Bumblebee had noticed the medic’s angry outburst and had made his way over.

“I found Knock Out.”

“Really that quickly, that’s amazing!”

“No, it’s not. His signal is coming from MECH’s old headquarters the place they were holding Breakdown the first time.”

“WHAT?” Bumblebee’s optics went wide with fear.

“Exactly.”

“But how? Why? Silas already got what he wanted. Do you think he….kidnapped Knock Out?”

“Unlikely, more like Knock Out kept Silas after his failure and his team found Knock Out and took him down for their leader. Either way are we going to help him?” Optimus leaned over them staring at the screen, for such a big mech he could move so silently.

“Autobots, let’s roll out.” The call was somber but definitive.

Leaving Arcee behind to man the ground bridge since Ratchet was needed on the mission the team quickly crossed the bridge and appeared on MECH’s old stomping grounds. Immediately something felt wrong the place was silent, empty.

“We’re getting played.” Bumblebee trained his gun on nothing a shiver running through his circuits.

“Perhaps, come on the signal is coming from this way.”

As they entered the decrepit building Bulkhead couldn’t help but remember his last visit here. Knock Out was a sick mech, there was always the thought that despite his somewhat apparent love for Breakdown; as much love as a Con could muster; that the medic might actually be helping these people.

“IN HERE!” Smokescreen called out and the rest of the team followed the sound of his voice. Ratchet pushed his way to the front quickly pushing Smokescreen away from the door there was no telling what the humans could have done to Knock Out and he wasn’t about to let the greenhorn just walk up into the massacre. Unlike most of the doors in the building, this one had a padlock on it, the meager human security was no match. With just a slight push of his shoulder, the door collapsed in on itself ripping from its hinges. The room was dark but the faint red glimmer that had caught Smokescreen’s optic was undeniably Knock Out. Ratchet dared a step closer. When the Con didn’t move he took another and then another till he was right up on the table. Ratchet could only look for a second before he had to tear his optics away and vent deeply if this had been MECH the humans had outdone themselves. Knock Out was totaled: back wheels cracked off, limbs just barely attached to where they should be and every inch of his metal was cracked and breaking away. Despite the heavy damage Knock Out’s optics were still cycling wildly and his chassis was still warm. He was still alive but something was wrong. Ratchet lifted the wires coming from the back of the Con's helm and followed them to the hi-tech computer. He fiddled with the controls until the monitor came to life…..a loading bar was on the screen at forty-five percent.

“They’re downloading information from his processor!” Ratchet was dumbfounded this was a whole different level for MECH.

“WELL STOP IT RATCHET!” Bulkhead screamed clearly upset by the situation.

“I can’t, if I stop it now it might hurt Knock Out.” Ratchet moved back to the Con’s body and held up a servo, usually, the movement of Energon through a mech’s chassis created something resembling a pulse but Knock Out did not have one. Worse Knock Out wasn’t giving off any spark readings. How was he alive like this without any spark readings. Ratchet looked around at the team, Optimus looked at him with dim optics, the others were too busy looking at Knock Out. Under normal circumstances, Ratchet would never consider doing anything like this in front of so many untrained mechs but these were not normal circumstances.  
Bracing his servos onto the Con’s chestplates Ratchet forced them open but instead of what he expected to find he found a battery. A rather advanced battery but a battery none the less, Knock Out’s spark-no his entire spark casing was gone! The others stared blankly in horror, what were these humans trying to accomplish?

* * *

 

“Wow alright, I can’t believe this worked he’s going to be so happy!” Knock Out could hear a femme speaking somewhere close to him, but it was no voice he could recognize.

“Who’s there?” Usually, never a good idea to ask a stranger because most of the time you never wanted the answer but all Knock Out got was a shriek of emotion.

“IT’S WORKING YOU CAN TALK AHHHH SUCK IT PROFESSOR MLINE!” Professor? What? Where was he? He tried to online his optics but something was wrong the code and his systems were all different. They were all so simplistic. They weren’t hard to figure out but why? Knock Out found the command and light flooded his vision as he opened his optics, and he stressed the word opened not onlined something had been covering his optics and he had needed to retract it to see. His optics cycled and focused and in front of him stood….A HUMAN! Rage filled him as he tried to lash out WHAT WAS THE DEAL WITH THESE VERMIN DIDN’T THEY KNOW WHEN TO QUIT WHILE THEY WERE BEHIND! Wait why did she look so….big? The human dodged him and sunk to her knees and pulled his head in her servos. “YOU CAN ALREADY MOVE! YOU ARE SO MUCH SMARTER THAN ANY OF THE OTHERS!” Did this human really think it was wise to patronize him? Knock Out lunged at her and seized her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. Her optics went wide but not with fear, “FINALLY I KNEW IF I JUST ADDED MORE POINTS THE FACE ARTICULATION WOULD LOOK SO MUCH BETTER! YOU’RE SO EXPRESSIVE! Knock Out tightened his grip and this caused a flash of panic in her optics but the woman quickly pulled something from her coat pocket and jammed it into Knock Out’s arm. Whatever it was stung and he felt his servo fail as the human jumped out of reach. “PLEASE, HE TOLD ME YOU WOULD BE ANGRY AND I KNOW YOU DON’T LIKE US BUT IF YOU UNPLUG YOURSELF BEFORE YOU’RE DONE CHARGING YOU’LL GO DARK AGAIN!” What was this human talking about who was this HIM that supposedly knew so much about the young medic and what did she mean by charging? Knock Out clutched at his limp servo with his good one and something quickly filled him with dread. His beautiful talons were gone...replaced by stubby HUMAN digits!

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?”

“PLEASE DON’T SCREAM SOMEONE WILL GET CURIOUS AND IF THEY SEE ME WITH A NAKED MAN PLUGGED INTO A WALL THEY ARE GOING TO ASK SO MANY QUESTIONS! Knock Out wanted to lunge at her again but the threat of “going dark” stopped him.

“WHO ARE YOU, ARE YOU PART OF MECH, WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY BEAUTIFUL CHASSIS, WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME YOU COULD HAVE JUST KILLED ME!” Knock Out sunk to the floor and felt the carpet burn his weak human coating, what was all this nonsense!

“Please stop screaming I know you’re upset, I know I would be if I were in your situation but I promise I did this to save you!”

“Save me from what?” His voice turned harsh and sharp the woman was lost again in a moment of adoration over the success of her creation but she quickly snapped back.

“My name is Marion Kim I used to work for MECH but I quit after I got what I needed from them. Silas only wanted me for my knowledge of your kind but I had no interest in furthering his strange fantasies.”

“NO I’M SURE YOU HAD SICK FANTASIES OF YOUR OWN YOU WERE MORE INTERESTED IN!” Knock Out was raking his digits through his hair, the feeling of the soft protein falling over his sensitive digits was so alien and yet relaxing. The female’s face turned red.

“Well you’re not wrong but I promise I’m am nothing like Silas but I really don’t want to explain everything till I get you home because I don’t think I can handle you by myself.” The woman looked down at the floor and fiddled with a button on her coat looking embarrassed. That wasn’t going to fly with Knock Out he wanted more answers and he wanted them now.

“WHY DID YOU MAKE ME LOOK LIKE YOU?” Marion looked at him with concern and a little bit of disdain.

“I didn’t, you look completely different I mean I know you look Korean like me but you don’t look anything like me not to mention you’re a boy. You know the difference between the two right? Is this weird for do you not like it. I can change it later when I have the chance but this was one I just had around I had to work fast because your spark was fading so quickly.”

“IT DOESN’T MATTER WHY DID YOU PUT ME IN THIS DISGUSTING FLESHY BODY!”

“Oh well that’s easy, so I’ve been tracking your spark signature for reasons I will explain later and when I saw that you had been separated from your friends but you weren’t moving I assumed the worst which was smart because you were dying. It was a good thing you were so close, why do you Decepticons like the east coast so much?” Knock Out glared at her, his servos held out and curling. “Ok not important, anyway I found you mangled in a tree so with a little help from some confidants I got you to a place where I could help you! Your Cybertronian body was totaled and there was no way I could fix you in time. You weren’t getting any energon to your spark so I tried to do a total transplant into a Cybertronian form that I had created but it didn’t work. Your spark rejected the new body, something with the metal you were originally forged from. I’m not really one hundred percent sure. So then I did something weird I made this thing out of energon like an arc reactor but cooler and when I placed your spark on in it your spark shrunk down and stabilized yay!” Marion paused for a minute to clap for herself and give a small bow to Knock Out, he really wanted to be angry but the joy of the human’s own scientific achievement kept his anger at bay for the moment. He could respect achievement even if it was at his expense. “So now I just had your spark which I know is like your power source but also like your “soul” it contains some special sort of code but there’s so much more to it than that. Anyway so I tried again to put you in the Cybertronian form but nothing happened I realized it was because your spark wasn’t powering the body anymore it was connecting to it and communicating with it but it wasn’t powering it like it should. I don’t know how to fix that yet. So to make it easier I put you in one of my androids because I couldn’t sustain the electricity that you would need to power a Cybertronian form but android form; that’s my specialty I make androids; perfectly capable and because you look so~, human…” The woman fawned again at Knock Out. “now I can take you back to my apartment, and outside, and anywhere else you want to go! You can kiss your weary war-torn life goodbye while I work on fixing up your Cybertronian form. Which I will I promise, I promise I am working on that. Oh, one more thing if you are having problems with your memory I was only able to transfer over a limited amount of files before I started running out of space so I had to pick and choose the most important things. Don’t worry though because your entire processor is saved to this bad boy.” Marion ecstatically pulled out a heavy looking hard drive as thick as the tome of Primus and showed it to him. A part of him was horrified and disgusted that his entire mind could fit on something so small but at the same time, he was sort of in awe. “I have another copy uploading onto another computer as backup and if you’re concerned about other MECH agents don’t be because they’re all DEAD! LOOK WHO’S LAUGHING NOW COPELAND I’M MAKING THE GREATEST BREAKTHROUGH OF MY LIFE AND YOU’RE EATING DIRT!” Knock Out couldn’t help but smile, while his spark was still burning with anger and resentment there was something about the human that was growing on him. Humans were weak selfish creatures if he continued to put up a fight she might get angry, like Starscream when no one listened to him whine. He had to play nice if he ever wanted to see his chassis again. There was also something thankful deep, deep down inside of him. Why had this human tired so hard to save him, he knew most of it was for her own benefit but she was acting as if she knew more about him that she should and that she actually cared about him. It was strange but at least she wasn’t as annoying as those children and fearful vermin the Autobots played with. He had attacked her and instead of floundering like prey she reacted unafraid Knock Out had to admit he liked her fire.

“What did you say your name was again?” She smiled at him her optics lit up with joy.

“Marion! Marion Kim, and you are?”

“You have the pleasure of calling me Knock Out?”

“Good you know your own name, good sign. Let me check to see if you’re charged and then we can get you into some clothes.” Marion unplugged the cord from Knock Out’s neck that had been tethering him to the wall and plugged something else into the slot in his neck. The feeling was a little unsettling and sent a shiver through his circuits but nothing painful. The device beeped softly and Marion seemed happy. “We are good to go your batteries should last you for a week. Tell me anytime you’re feeling groggy because I have to charge you here at the school, the last time I tried to charge an android at my apartment it didn’t end well.” Free from the constraints of the wall Knock Out looked around the small room, it was some sort of lab or office.

“So we are at a school, where are all the students?”

“Outside in other classrooms. This is my office I am a professor here at the school, welcome to Portland.” Half of that sentence meant nothing to Knock Out but he smiled and nodded anyway.”

“So you teach here when you’re not kidnapping dying aliens.”

“You know for someone who’s going though a serious change of lifestyle none of this has seemed to dampen your capacity for humor.” Marion returned from digging about in her bag with some clothes for Knock Out to put on. He stared at them in disgust. “What’s wrong, I know you don’t have clothes where you come from so you can not tell me that they aren’t your style!”

“It’s just so disgusting that you humans desecrate other organics and wear there amalgamated hides upon your forms to shield you from the harshness of your planet or for social status or for whatever you wear them for.”

“Are you trying to be silly, because it’s working most of this stuff is all cotton. It’s just underpants, t-shirt, jeans and a flannel. It’s already in the fifties if I bring you out there without something resembling a jacket people will think you’re nuts.”

“I don’t understand how that makes a difference it’s still an organic organism. It would be like one of us slaughtering a turbofox and using its metal to make our armor, it’s just gross.” To be fair Knock Out had actually supplemented turbofox and skrill metal with the rest of his supplies when it was absolutely necessary but that didn’t mean it was civilized.

“It’s just a plant it’s fine.” Marion couldn’t believe out of all the alien robots she had to save she found the vegan one. “Just put on the clothes.” Reluctantly Knock Out did as he was told the jeans gave him some trouble but aside from that he had to admit despite his early discomfort he felt much safer with the clothes on. She smiled at him fawning again, “You look so good he’s going to be so surprised, do you want to see?” Some part of him did because no matter what vessel Knock Out’s vanity was a constant but he couldn’t bring himself to do it he didn’t want to become attached to this human form.

“I’m good, who is this mystery human you keep speaking of why does he care so much about me?”

“Don’t worry about him I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Is there anything you want to do before we head back to my apartment I only have a bit of time before my next class so we can’t do anything too adventurous.”

“Yes, I want to meet this mysterious other human! “ Knock Out crossed his arms and gave the woman a firm look, she just laughed him off.”

“Ok, ok to my apartment it is.” Marion took Knock Out to the parking garage on the way a gaggle of her students were surprised by Knock Out’s presence and tried to get her to chat but she waved them off saying that she was busy and that she would explain later. Knock Out was glad for this, he didn’t want to wait around while the human told stories on his behalf he wanted to meet the human that knew so much about him. He had been to plenty of races and had chatted up a few humans, ones who had specifically admired his alt-mode. It was a possibility that one of them could have noticed something was off and followed him unknowingly and figured out his origins. “Alright get in!” Marion gestured to the car, a beat-up green Thunderbird. Knock Out felt a swell of embarrassment, he knew it wasn’t the same thing but still the idea just did not sit right with him.

“Can’t we just….walk?” Marion looked up from her purse keys in hand.

“No. Now get in the car it won’t bite.” Maron could read Knock Out’s discomfort from space. “Would you feel better…..driving? Sure it might not be ethical to have a transforming automotive cyber organism drive a man-made car but they weren’t going too, too far.

“NO! No, I’ll just work through the awkward feelings.” Knock Out pulled open the door and got in. The medic might have been more than happy to appreciate human craftsmanship when it came to automobiles but for him it was like a human admiring another’s haircut or sometimes imagining a doll as if they were a real human but this, sitting inside a vehicle to use it for it’s intended purpose, well it was just abnormal and it made Knock Out feel dirty. Then again Knock Out had always felt a little weird about the idea as a whole, he didn’t even like getting lifts from Astrotrain and other carrier mechs back home. Maybe it was just the medic in him but seeing someone's interior like it was just a thing to do felt like such an impropriety, perhaps it was just a grounder thing or perhaps it was just from having sleazy mechs shout about how badly they wanted to see his interior one too many times. Who knew for sure. Marion looked at him with kind optics.

“It’s going to be alright we’re not going too far just too far to walk.” She started the car and drove off. The streets passed by and with them a blur of human’s just living their lives, they all looked happy doing nothing as they slowly died with each disgusting breath they took. Knock Out tried not to think about the humans so he preoccupied himself with the buildings. Eventually Marion pulled into a foresty area and parked the car. Knock Out stepped out of the vehicle and looked up at the building. For what he knew about most human apartment complexes this one was small. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. “Come on, follow me!” Marion took Knock Out by the servo and guided him to the entrance through the ground floor and into the elevator. The interior of the building smelled like earth flowers and cleaning products. “I live on the eighth floor alright.” She pressed the number eight. Knock Out wanted to snap at her for treating him like an idiot but he just nodded and followed along. Honestly though, he knew how elevators worked. When the elevator stopped she dragged him out into the quiet hallway, Knock Out stared down at the gaudy carpet as the human seemed to lose her mind with excitement. She had let go of Knock Out’s servo and was practically skipping down the hall. “I am SO EXCITED for you!” She really did seem excited Knock Out couldn’t help but wonder why. She stopped at a door and pulled out her keys again Knock Out couldn’t help but notice the strange looking robotic monster she had as a keychain. Perhaps that’s why she was being so nice, she was simply obsessed. She pushed Knock Out through the door. Inside was a nice apartment nothing too fancy but it was spacious and clean and sitting on a couch watching some type of human programming was a tan, gray-haired brutish looking man who vaguely looked like Ash Williams and was talking to a gray parrot. The parrot was screeching loudly.

“I know Starscream I can’t wait for them to get back either.” That voice! No, they couldn’t do this to him not now, not again. Marion pushed him even further inside before calling out to the young man.

“WE’RE HOME! The man stood and his eyes; bright unnatural gold; focused on Knock Out. In two bounding strides, he closed the gap between them and pulled Knock Out into a tight hug before pressing his lips to Knock Out’s. The kiss was strange with his new form but his spark surged all the same. He pulled away.

“It’s so good to see you again Doc.” The words drove into his spark like knives and he could feel his optics leaking. When he had lost him the first time he had told himself that was just the way it was, he had lost others before and Breakdown was no different. When Silas had tricked him his only thought had been good but he felt no different after discovering the truth so why was he so emotional now? Knock Out slapped the man as hard as he could.

“NO! NO! NO!” The medic couldn’t deal with these lies again he couldn’t deal with saying goodbye again. His punches got harder, he clawed and screamed but Breakdown just held him his face buried into Knock Out’s neck, rubbing at the small of Knock Out’s back.

“I know I really screwed up. I’m sorry. Knock Out sobbed still clawing and beating the man trying his force him to admit to his lies but it only wore the medic out.

“Breakdown?”


	2. No Place I'd Rather Be

“It’s me Doc, it’s me.” Breakdown pulled Knock Out up securing an arm under the other mech’s legs and carried him to the couch. Marion was still standing in the doorway optics wide.

“We all good, was that how you expected that to go?” Breakdown smiled at her and nodded.

“Better than I expected!”

“Alright then I’ll leave you two alone to catch up, check his levels for me though he probably just expended too much energy too quickly and overheated a bit but check for me anyway. I’ll be back after my classes and I’m going to check on his other body so I’ll be back late.”

“Got it, Marion. Have a good day at work.” Marion waved them goodbye then shut the door. With the Professor gone Breakdown pulled Knock Out onto his lap and placed another kiss on the smaller mech lips. Knock Out accepted this one, opening his mouth a little to let Breakdown’s glossia tease his own. Breakdown couldn’t help sighing as he felt Knock Out’s digits curl as they clutched at the collar of his t-shirt. Looking for something to hold onto that was no longer there. He pulled away and pressed his forehead to Knock Out’s, his strong servos caressing the other mechs cheeks. “I didn’t think I would ever get to kiss you like that again.” Knock Out reached up and ran his servo through Breakdown’s hair trying desperately to take everything in. Breakdown sighed and shivered at the smaller mechs touch; it wasn’t the same but it felt so right. Behind the two the parrot squawked wanting attention, effectively ruining the mood. “Starscream I’m busy here!” He yelled at the bird but turned to give it’s lowered head a quick scratch anyway. Knock Out couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ruining moods even here.” Breakdown laughed too.

“He’s actually a lot cooler than the real Starscream but can be just as annoying. He’s Marion’s pet I think she called him a parrot. It’s some type of bird. It flies, it’s gray, and it screams, what else was I supposed to call it?”

“No, no I think this winged monster should be honored to be named after our illustrious commander but surely it had a moniker before you arrived.”

“It did but Marion said it never answered to it but the little guy answers to Starscream. Aint that right?” Breakdown picked up a peanut from a small bowl and gave it to the bird who nibbled at the mech’s digit for a bit before taking the offering.

Knock Out laid his head on Breakdown’s shoulder “I don’t mean to make the mood heavy but...Breakdown what happened to you?” Breakdown took one of Knock Out’s servos in his own and kissed the top of it.

“I’m sorry I messed up so bad Doc. I did what I always do when I’m not with you, I went stupid. She was taunting me so I ran after her. I ran right into her trap. She cut me up. Next voice I hear is Marion’s telling me it’s all going to be ok. She saved me from those slaggers. Even if it was only for something she wanted she still saved me and she’s been a real solid companion through all this. She’s been nice. She’s interested in our sparks, wants to study them so she can make her own so she can make her mechanical humans….the chassis she gave us…..better, real, alive, who knows. Her and her “dad”...not really sure what that is but he’s important to her. Anyway, they’ve been searching for signs since Cybertronians first visited this mud ball a few decades back. The couple sparks they managed to get from chasing down past battles never lasted. They just didn’t have the tech. Then we got sneaky so she joined MECH. After my first run in with them, she didn’t like how they treated me so she sort of got wise to Silas and decided to keep what she knew a secret from them. Then after Arachnid they just got lucky and found me before Dreadwing got himself unstuck from that tree. Took me back to their new base and since Silas was messed up from the Autobots they got to work fixing me up. Marion noticed that my spark was still lit and she acted fast, convinced the others the transplant wouldn’t work if it was still in my chassis so they just gave it to her. They scanned my processor onto their computers because they wanted it to study but they didn’t want any of my memories to mess their leader up so they wiped most of them from my processor before they stuck Silas in. So with my spark and all the data from my processor copied onto one of her hardrives she left and never went back. She returned to her lab at the school where she keeps all her android stuff and put me in one of these cyber human things and my spark took to it easy. Mine was petty bare bones at the time so I got the luxury of having her customize it. I hope you like it, I really like yours. She said it’s supposed to look like some good looking singer or something. She can change it up for you a bit if you like but I think it suits you. She could probably make your hair a little redder and maybe do something to your nails, that might make you feel a bit better.”

“She can do that?” Knock Out couldn’t care less about his new pseudo human disguise he just wanted to keep Breakdown talking.

“Yeah! Marion’s a pretty smart lady and I think some humans do that. I know they do crazy junk with their hair. There is one girl who works at this place where Marion likes to get sweets, her hair is a whole bunch of colors.”

“And what does she get out of helping you?” Breakdown shifted the two of them into a more comfortable position.

“Like I said she’s interested in sparks and once she knew I was your nurse she got really interested. So I let her look at my spark and do some tests when she wants and she gives me energon and a roof to live under and she used the fancy tech she stole from MECH to help me keep an optic on you. She offered to let me leave once before but I couldn’t get back to you without you seeing me like this and I didn’t think you would have handled it well or even believed me.”

“I don’t know what I would had done.” Knock Out’s thoughts had drifted to Dreadwing, he felt bad for overreacting now but there was nothing to say the jet still hadn’t planned the whole thing out. Either way if he had left he definitely wouldn’t be here.

“We heard about the stunt Silas pulled. We intercepted some Decepticon signals and heard Megatron griping about it. I’m sorry you had to go through that Doc.” Knock Out was pulled back to Breakdown, he smiled softly and touched the bigger mech’s face lightly.

“Don’t worry about it. He got what he deserved and so did I.” Knock Out propped himself up a bit and placed a kiss on Breakdown’s cheek. He fell back with a sigh and Breakdown enveloped him with his warm arms. For all the crap Knock Out gave humans for being disgusting, his form had never fit so perfectly with Breakdown’s till now.

The two talked for a bit longer but they soon ran out of things to tell each other. For how long it felt like they had been separated nothing much had really happened. Knock Out was content to sit and enjoy the bigger mech’s familiar warmth as Breakdown searched through television programs. He finally settled on one about fish. It was rather interesting but Knock Out found himself nodding off all the same. He was awoken by the strange shiver through his systems. He opened his optics and tried to look around but Breakdown was holding his neck still. “Don’t worry Doc just checking your energy levels to make sure you didn’t surge when you went off on me. You sort of worried me when you slipped into standby but I guess you were just comfy. You’re still fine.” Breakdown pulled out the device and placed on the coffee table.

“Standby?”

“It’s like recharge but less intense and since our processors aren’t as advanced it keeps our minds from overheating.” Breakdown resettled the young medic and Knock Out quickly became drowsy again.

“Such a smart one you are here now. Aren’t you Breakdown?” Breakdown’s ventilations faltered a bit at Knock Out’s words of praise, the Doctor knew better than to do that to him.

“Doc don’t heat me up when we got no way to cool down.” Knock Out intertwined his digits with Breakdown’s. A sly grin on his lips.

“I’m sorry. I am surprised it still gets to you even now.” The two listened to the narrator on the television talk as video of the alien fauna was played on the screen. Eventually they both slipped into standby; safe in each others arms.

Knock Out stirred again at the sound of something hissing. He was on the couch alone this time. He pushed himself up and looked around the apartment. Breakdown was in another walled off section of the room standing at a counter chopping something. “Breakdown why are you doing lab experiments in this woman’s home?”

He chuckled lightly. “I’m not. Humans need to eat other organic stuff to live but Marion always gets home so late that she forgets and it messes her up. I sort of felt bad just sitting around while she works all day so one day I just sort of watched a video on the internet and made something for her. It turned out pretty well and she was really excited so she asked me to keep doing it for her. Sometimes I don’t know the difference between stuff and it turns out wrong but she usually eats it as long as it’s not burnt.” Knock Out hummed understandingly

“Ah I see, so what are you making for our human savoir?” Breakdown looked at his counter of ingredients and wondered if Knock Out really cared.

“Cooked meat with sad plant organics put into a sauce and served over rice.” Knock Out fell back onto the couch laughing.

“Such a savant at all these human customs. Who knew. I’m so proud and slightly disgusted at how quickly you’ve adapted.” Knock Out’s spark was surging, he felt so light and airy with joy. He hadn’t been this happy in so long. It felt wrong to be, but even the loss of his preferred chassis was not dampening his reunion with Breakdown.

“I didn’t think I’d ever be leaving this place to be honest. So I thought hey better live and learn then fight it.” He didn’t receive a reply. “Doc, did you fall back into standby?” Nothing. Breakdown huffed lightly “Your poor spark must be making up for all that rest you never got on the Nemesis.” He heard a jangle of keys and creak of the door.

“Hello Lovebirds I’m home!” Breakdown set his knife down and walked over to help the Professor with her bags. He held out an arm to support the young woman as she pulled off her shoes. “Ah this is so much better than coming home to an empty house. Whatever you’re cooking smells great. How is Knock Out doing?” She patted the mech on his shoulder and snuck past him to place her bag and coat into a small cubby hole.

“Thanks! He’s doing ok. He’s going into standby a lot but you said I did that at first too so I’m not worried. His levels are fine. How was work and….his other chassis?”

Marion went to the couch and ran a delicate servo over Knock Out’s face. “Work was good the student’s projects are coming along fantastically. Did he mention if he wanted anything changed? I really like him the way he is but you know I’m biased.”

“I mentioned some things I thought he might like and he seemed interested. Personally if you could make him sound more like his old self that would be great. You did it for me but I don’t know how difficult that actually was. I think all he really wants is his old chassis though and I can’t blame him.”

“You didn’t tell him?”

“No. I didn’t want to make him choose between me and being himself.”

“Well he’s going to be stuck being an android for a bit longer than initially planned. His chassis had some sort of emergency signal in it and...the Autobots found him. They didn’t unplug him at all which was nice of them but they took him to their hideout. I hope he forgives me for not testing my luck by yelling at them to stop.”

“Well….that’s not too bad. Maybe you could call them and just….ask for it back? Maybe Ratchet will fix him!”

“DO YOU THINK?”

“No, but it makes me feel better to imagine.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll tell him about the Autobots and the other thing. Let me finish your food first.”

With dinner done and Marion in her room grading papers Breakdown stared at the sleeping mech on the couch. It had been easy for Breakdown to get used his new human form and he secretly hoped Knock Out could too because living as a human...it was so easy. He was free from the constraints of the war, of his form, of his past. No one was trying to kill him or order him around, and he finally had the chance to do the things he wanted to do even if they were dumb. Now he could do them with Knock Out; if only the doctor would let him.

Breakdown picked up the young medic and moved him to the small bedroom. It had been Marion’s guest bedroom but now it was his. Knock Out woke up just as Breakdown set him down on the bed. He looked up at Breakdown with bleary optics. “When did we move?”

“Just now, this is my bedroom.”

“Ok.”

“Doc, I need to tell you something and you gotta promise you won’t get mad because it’s not her fault.”

“Someone stole my chassis didn’t they?” Breakdown faltered.

“No,no-how did you know?”

“I’m a medic, we all have emergency signals installed in our armor. I figured it might cause some trouble if she forgot to deactivate it and I was right. So the Cons think I’m dead?”

“No. The Autobots got you.”

“Even better.” Breakdown couldn’t tell if that was sarcasm or not but he hoped it wasn’t.

“You’re not mad?” Breakdown had expected his partner to be furious for anyone even thinking of touching his chassis in the first place. Losing it now, he was surprised Knock Out wasn’t rushing to strangle Marion! It was probably just the initial dissociation that came from spark transplants. It was in a sparks nature to adapt to whatever form it was in even if it was a weird human one. Breakdown was sure the anger would surface later.

“Nope, I have a plan. I’m going to mail Bumblebee a ransom note.” Breakdown didn’t know how that would fix the situation but the Doc wasn’t exactly running on all cylinders at the moment so he didn’t question it. He laid down on the bed and pulled Knock Out close.

“I got something else I need to tell you.”

“I know you don’t want your old chassis back, I would never do that to you. I’ll build you a new one.” Breakdown pulled the smaller mech tightly to his chest. The medic knew how to read him like a data pad. Even when he wasn’t thinking about those things himself.

“It’s more than that Doc. Even if you do build me a new body I don’t know if my spark can take another transplant. See the Professor already built me a new Cybertronian form and even though it wasn’t perfect it was still functional, but my spark...I almost faded when she tried to transfer me over. My sparks just too weak. I don’t want you to be stuck here with me Doc but I just want you to know that when you get your body back I might not be able to go with you any time soon...or maybe at all.” Knock Out was silent for a bit and Breakdown felt his spark dim.

Well, that was a problem that Knock Out would have liked to discuss in a better state of mind. He was more than confident in his skills so Knock Out was positive he could eventually get Breakdown’s spark strong enough again so the thought of being this way forever didn’t even cross his processor. Still, that did mean he would be stuck here as a human for longer than he might be able to stand. No. It didn’t matter. He could force himself to get over it like he had for a myriad of other less than ideal situations. There was no way he was just going to leave the mech he loved behind even if it did cost him his Cybertronian form. Besides what did he have to go back to? He pushed down the discomfort and anger over the poor handling of his beautiful chassis. He didn’t want to give Breakdown any doubt. Knock Out grinned sleepily and buried his face into Breakdown’s neck. “ Is that all you were worried about? It’s alright my pet if you learned to adapt then so will I. I won’t leave you.”

“Doc.” Breakdown could feel the tears welling in his optics. “I love you.”

“You should, because anyone else who could have possibly loved you has probably already died.”

Breakdown felt his spark flare, he had missed their loving jabs. He had missed him. “Goodnight Doc.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey Ratchet, I think something is wrong with the computer.” It had been a week since they had picked up Knock Out and Ratchet had been busy going through all of the coded MECH files and even some of the files that had been downloaded from Knock Out. Mainly medic files. For how ruthless and unethical the Decepticon medic was he kept a file on every mech he had ever treated and they were extensive down to bolt and ball bearing size and every part measurement was perfect down to the smallest nanometer. He even had files on some of the Autobots. Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Bulkhead and even Optimus. It was strange. He wondered if Knock Out could assess a mech just from looking at them for a few minutes. New models and their fancy enhancements! It was hard for Ratchet to hide his jealousy.

“What’s wrong Bumblebee?” Two cycles ago Raf had gotten a rather strange letter in the mail that had been addressed to Bumblebee and team Prime. It had been some sort of ransom note about returning Knock Out’s chassis or they would never see the young medic alive again. It had been a strange note written in lovely but slightly sloppy handwriting but nothing about the note had seemed threatening as ransom notes usually were. It was more or less just a statement like hey if you don’t do this then this won’t happen. Which honestly just worried Ratchet more. What if the human who took Knock Out was just in some weird way trying to help? The senior medic didn’t dare dwell on it but he did, however, continue to keep the younger medic’s chassis attached to the strange battery instead of doing the autopsy that he wanted to do. Even if the human was just trying to help there was no way Ratchet was just going to give the body back. Cybertronians were a Cybertronian business. So he had set the computer up and refined the search so it might catch even a severely diminished spark signal.

“We finally got a signal but it’s from the exact same area just not at the hideout.”

“The human who took Knock Out’s spark must live around there I’ll go tell Optimus.”

* * *

 

“Doc please stop. Come just lie down with me.” Knock Out had been pacing around the small room for almost an hour now. Breakdown knew this would happen; the Doc was getting antsy.

Knock Out ran his digits through his newly colored hair with his lovely new human talons. Having a little something to remind him of his old chassis had eased his discomfort and his new form was disgusting him less and less every cycle but now he was getting the itch. It was sort of the feeling that he got when he hadn’t transformed in a long time but not exactly the same since he no longer had a T-cog. It was actually worse since this feeling was now in his processor. He couldn’t sit still any longer. He just needed to do something that wasn’t just sitting in a room. “I can’t Breakdown! I’m sorry I’m bothering you. I can’t sit around any longer!”

Breakdown stood up and went over to wrap his arms around Knock Out, halting the mech’s pacing. Knock Out had never been one to just sit.The only time that ever happened was when he was getting pampered. Even when he begged for a quiet moment he never knew what to do with it once he had it. “It’s six am Doc so I can’t take you anywhere interesting but I can take you for a walk by the water.”

“I don’t want to go near the water.” A walk sounded nice but since his surge after getting caught in the rainwater made him nervous. Breakdown squeezed him comfortingly.

“You only surged because a lot of rain got in your optics. Everything else is fine near water so you don’t need to worry Doc. Still, we don’t have to go to the shore if you don't want. There are plenty of woods we can go walk around in. I can catch you a squirrel or a frog!” Knock Out responded with a soft hum of amusement. Breakdown was rather intent on showing him all the interesting fauna this section of earth had to offer. It had been rather cute watching him catch a pelican with absolute determination. Some other local humans seemed to find it interesting too since they were eager to attempt catching one themselves after watching him succeed. Only after a few seconds of struggling the bird succumbed to its fate and became complacent being held and petted by Breakdown as he showed it off. The large triumphant grin his brute wore after the accomplishment was enough to silence Knock Out from lecturing the bigger mech on all the strange parasites the bird could be carrying. So he just gave the bird a small pat and simply smiled. Another moment like that sounded nice.

“Sure let’s go catch a frog.” Breakdown’s face lit up. He grabbed Knock Out’s servo and dragged him out of the bedroom. In the living room Marion was already awake drinking a cup of coffee or what she liked to call her daily energon. It was a silly comparison since it looked and worked nothing like energon but since it was meant to be a joke in the first place Knock Out let it go.

“You two are up early. Are you getting restless Knock Out?” Knock Out never liked talking about his issues with anyone and especially not with a human but with Marion it was nothing but a professional concern. She wasn’t there to judge or make assumptions all she cared about was if he was working properly. Knock Out could respect that.

“Yes but I’m just bored.” Marion took a sip of her coffee, humming understandingly.

“Well you are more than welcome to raid my library or I can bring you some books home from the school if you would like but it looks like you two have plans. Do you guys need money for later?”

Breakdown squeezed Knock Out’s servo lightly, “You wanna go see a movie when the theater opens up?”

“Sure.”

“Ohhh so cute. You guys are like my children but only better because I never wanted human children and having too many animals is considered weird.” Marion was already up and digging through her purse and as if on cue Starscream squaked loudly. “You’re my child too Starscream don’t worry. Speaking of Starscream once you two are done with the movie could you run some errands for me?”

“Sure thing Marion what do you need?”

“Food for me and Starscream. So just pop by the supermarket for me please, the list is on the fridge. Today is my easy day but I’m running low on energon so I will have to stay late and refine some more for you.”

“Do you still have plenty of raw energon or do you need me to go get some?”

“I’ve still got plenty, more than enough to get us through the month.”

“Ok!” Marion handed Breakdown some earth credits which he stashed away in his wallet and he let go of Knock Out to get the list from the fridge. Knock Out was sure his life couldn’t get any stranger than this. He couldn’t blame Breakdown he had always been a kind mech at spark but seriously he was doing favors for this woman! She had still played a part in the organization that had hurt him terribly but that was all of a sudden forgotten because hey she was being nice NOW! Then again it was no worse than dealing with any of the Decepticons. Maybe that was why she was so easy to get along with. He knew the kind of person he was dealing with.

“Did you perchance get any reply from the Autobots?”

Marion shook her head as she returned to her coffee. “No and you worded it so nicely! It wasn’t even threatening. It’s probably just because they get help from the government. Probably don’t want to give in because they think I want to destroy Washington with you or something stupid.

“Ah well. It disgusts me to say it but I am getting used to this existence.” He felt Breakdown’s digits slip between his own and the bigger mech placed a gentle kiss on the top of his head.

With everything ready the two left to explore the woods. They didn’t find any frogs but Knock Out did find a rather large turtle. They named it Bulkhead and laughed childishly as they fed it wild berries. “Do you think Marion would notice if I brought it home with us?” Knock Out was throwing rocks into a small river. Enjoying the way they would bounce when he got the angle just right. It seemed as if water was terribly hard to avoid on this planet.

“Probably. He is a rather large organic and his wideness makes him more obvious. You should know a lot about that.” Breakdown smiled sheepishly and fed Bulkhead another berry. Knock Out was referring to the emergency trip to the campus to get re-charged. When they had been leaving a group of human girls had come up to try to chat. While they stared at Knock Out in awe they were more comfortable to flirt and chat with Breakdown. The Professor had tried her best to make him look a bit like an older human since he technically was an older mech, well older than Knock Out, but he still seemed to turn heads.

“Are you jealous already Doc I’m flattered?” Knock Out puffed out his cheeks and tossed another rock; trying his best not to look at Breakdown.

“I am not jealous of humans! You just seem to speak to them so easily. Don’t you ever worry they will figure you out?” Knock Out was right. Breakdown definitely was better at dealing with the humans when they did approach him and sometimes it was even nice to talk. Knock Out was probably just worried he was getting too attached for his own good. There was a small chance that the Doc just wanted to join in on the fun of interacting with the humans but was too worried of the consequences for failing to act well enough.

“I’ve been doing this for longer than you but it’s pretty easy. Humans don’t have castes or functions so they can never tell what another human might know or not know. So you just have to use human words and then just go off of what they’re talking about. It’s weird when they try to flirt though I never know what to say. I usually just run from those conversations.”

“You just run away?”

“Yeah I’m a lot faster so they can’t catch up.”

“Cute. We can’t bring Bulkhead to the movies and I think we are supposed to leave wild animals in the wild.” Breakdown groaned but he knew Knock Out was right. He set Bulkhead down back in the log where Knock Out had found him. He swept Knock Out up and perched the smaller mech on top of his shoulder and took a running jump across the river. Knock Out screamed and clung to Breakdown wildly as he tried to keep his balance. Breakdown loved showing off for the Doc even now. With Breakdown doing all of the work they reached the main road in no time, with the sun now high in the sky people were bustling around going about their day.

“So I don’t know what’s in th- Do you see that Doc?

“See what?”

“That car.” Knock Out looked around the area nothing seemed out of place. There was a flashy looking sports car but it had a human rider inside.

“That fancy one? It’s got a rider.”

“No down further. It’s a race car. Those don’t just show up?” Knock Out saw it clearly trying to hide among the others but failing desperately. Why did did he recognize that car?

“Let’s go to the theater now!” The two couldn’t enjoy their movie, only going to wait out whoever was stalking them, if someone was stalking them. Humans were strange and sometimes weird things just happened but Knock Out knew that car from somewhere. When they got out of the movie the car was no longer there. Maybe they were just being paranoid after all.

“Do you still want to get groceries? I’m sure Marion will understand if we don’t go today.”

“No let’s go. It might throw them off if we just do more human things.” The walk to the story was fine nothing out of the ordinary followed them so the two tried to put the event out of their processors but quickly found they couldn’t. As they walked around the store picking up the things on Marion’s list they tried to come up with plausible reasons one of their own would be there.

“Maybe it was just a fluke Marion was right the Cons do have a thing for the east coast. Maybe that Autobot was just patrolling.”

“Why do you think it’s an Autobot?”

“Because if it’s a Con they’re dumb as lead. There are some dumb Cons but none of our spies are that dumb to have a paint job and alt mode that flashy.” Breakdown had a point and for some reason the thought of it being an Autobot frighted Knock Out more. Sure they had his chassis and he wanted to get it back but he didn’t actually want to deal with the Autobot’s face to face. They were still the enemy after all and he was still a Decepticon medic. For the first time since opening his new optics Knock Out realized just how vulnerable he actually was in his human form.

“I miss my staff.”

“Whoah do you really think the Autobots would hurt us?”

“Yes. They might not bother killing us but they certainly won’t let us roam around free spirited. I don’t want to just be shoved into a stasis pod. You know I don’t do well with cramped spaces.”

“We could buy a knife. They sell some pretty big ones for cooking and stuff it will be an easy way to pop a tire. They could still run but it’s something.”

“ Or cut a fuel line. Let’s pick one up.”

As the two walked home the fear in their sparks grew. If they were caught not only would they be in danger but they would put Marion in danger as well. Knock Out was just beginning to enjoy this life and already the Autobots were trying to make him miserable again! Primus why couldn’t they just learn to keep their servos out of other mech's lives!

* * *

 

A few days passed with nothing out of the ordinary. The two went about their cycles trying to find anything to occupy their time. They went on a lot of walks since that was Breakdown’s favorite hobby but Marion was eager to find a human activity that Knock Out could get into. She had noticed that aside from her anatomy books he had been reading about animals. It seemed he and Breakdown shared a love of fauna. Seeing as how Knock Out had a darker nature she figured the medic might be interested in vulture culture. She certainly had when she had been younger. She decided to try and encourage him into going out and picking up some animal carcasses so they could start a cleaning project together.

As per usual now that he was used to his human frame Knock Out was up early. Much earlier than Breakdown ever liked to get up. It was nice since Marion got some alone time with Knock Out even if he still acted cold toward her. Marion found him in the bathroom cleaning up. “Good morning Knock Out.” She sipped at her coffee and watched as he washed his face; being careful of his optics. Marion couldn’t help but enjoy the mech's cleanliness since it meant less maintenance work for her.

“Good morning Marion.” She watched as he pulled out a bottle of glass cleaner and some q-tips. She went and set her coffee down before quickly returning.

“Oh please, let me do that for you.” It had been ages since she had gotten to do this with Breakdown, since Knock Out usually kept his partner clean, and she sort of missed it. He looked reluctant. Knock Out was a highly self reliant mech and he prided himself on it but he eventually handed it over.

“Ok, thanks.” Marion flashed him a huge smile. She dipped the q-tip lightly in the cleaner and leaned in closely. Steadying Knock Out’s face with one servo and using the other to carefully circle the mech’s optic with the q-tip, she cleaned off the dust and grime from the cycle before.

“Are there any more books you would like me to pick up, I noticed you like the ones about animals?"

“You can bring me some about embalming. I heard about it on a documentary I was watching with Breakdown last night. It...uh sounded interesting.”

“Oh was it about ancient Egyptians or the Civil War?Those are the only two types of documentaries that really talk about that sort of thing.” She could have sworn she heard the mech stutter a bit. Was he embarrassed to be interested by that sort of thing or maybe he thought she might find it suspicious?

“Egyptians.” Marion dipped a new q-tip and moved on to the other optic.

“Alright, I will look. I was wondering though that maybe you might like to collect some skeletons for yourself. You know animal ones that you could study up close or just enjoy. It was something I liked to do when I was younger but I don’t have much time to just wander the forests anymore. What you do is you look for an animal that is already dead- key point- and if it interests you bring it back here in a bag and I can show you how to strip it and get the skeleton.” That sounded utterly disgusting on so many levels. Touching dead organics and bringing them home in bags to wait for them to rot or help the rot only to strip them of their load bearing structure to keep and look at! Why would anyone think that that was fun? Something about it though resonated in his spark. It might be an interesting experience. Plus as much as he loved Breakdown he wanted some alone time and Breakdown only liked the animals when they were alive. “Some people find it weird but I just love skeletons. I love them like I love architecture it’s just something about structure.”

“Ok. I’ll go look now. I could use a couple hours of alone time.”

“Yes Breakdown might not appreciate the art now that I think about it but you don’t have to of course! I just thought it might be fun for you.”

“No it sounds interesting and I’ll be careful.” Marion blew gently into Knock Out’s optics as she grinned like a fool.

“I’m so happy you’re trying to enjoy new experiences! Let me get you some gloves and a bag.”

* * *

 

Smokescreen could not believe he was stuck tailing the stupid human again! Everyone else was back at HQ planning on how to sneak on the Nemesis and he was stuck chasing some stupid human who might have Knock Out’s spark. Why did they even care about Knock Out’s spark? It’s not like they even liked Knock Out. The only reason they were saving him was because of something another Con told them! He was probably LYING! Why didn’t they send someone sneakier like Bumblebee or less obvious like Arcee? This human noticed him from a mile away the first time so there was no way he was going to get caught now.

“Ughh, and he’s in the WOODS!” Smokescreen screamed at nothing as he transformed. He would drop back into alt mode as soon as he got close but there was no way he was going to ruin his new tires by accidentally driving over a sharp stick. He found the human by a lake poking at a dead animal. “What a creep.” All Smokescreen had to do was get close and whack him with the door. Smokescreen dropped into his alt-mode and crept forward. The human wouldn’t even see it coming.

The human was alerted instantly-stupid hill- and looked up from his dead animal. He glared at the ostentatious Lotus Exige. The human strangely looked a bit like Knock Out and he certainly glared like him, icy and poisonous. Smokescreen tried not to move hoping he would get curious. He did and the human slowly crept closer. “Why are you following me?” So he knew more than he should. This was going to be rough.

“You’re the one who sent the note. Where’s the spark and why is the signal coming…..from you?”

“What did you do with the body? Did you give back to the Cons or did you keep it?”

“Uhh I asked you FIRST but it doesn’t matter it’s at our secret HQ where a human like you will never find it! SO just GIVE it to me already so I can go home and Fowler can deal with you.”

“You mean your base in Jasper, Nevada where all your little human friends live. Not a good spot.” Smokescreen transformed in a flash and grabbed up Knock Out before he could move out of the way. He brought Knock Out close to his faceplate trying to get a good look at him.

“How do you know that? What did you do with Knock Out’s spark? Did you like absorb it or something? Is that why you kind of look like him….and sound like him?” Knock Out gripped the knife in his back pocket; ready to strike. Smokescreen! PRIMUS no wonder he recognized the car! Something must have gotten lost when Marion was picking through his memories. Primus this Bot was dumb.

“I know all about you Autobots. You’re Smokescreen then there’s Bumblebee, Arcee, Bulkhead, Ratchet, and Optimus. As for the spark it’s in here.” Knock Out held his free servo to his chest, “Why don’t you take a closer look?” Smokescreen took the bait and as soon as he was close enough Knock Out yanked his knife free and stabbed the Bot in the optic! Smokescreen dropped Knock Out like a hot pan and brought his servos up to explore the wound. The human had freed the knife as he fell but it was leaking pretty bad.

“You little SLAGGER!” Smokescreen tried to focus. That human knew way too much he couldn’t let him get away. He spotted the human already up on a hill. Primus, he was fast for a tiny thing; didn’t that fall even faze him a little? As he ran Smokescreen commed base; this was getting too weird for him to handle alone. “Smokescreen to HQ requesting back up. **This human is messed up! He KNOWS where our BASE is! HE STABBED ME IN MY FRAGGING OPTIC!”** A little ways ahead a green portal fazed into existence. Arcee and Bumblebee stepped out blocking the human's path. “Right in front of you!” Arcee ran and swept the human up but cried out as he lodged his knife into her wrist. She dropped him and just like before he ran while the Bots bickered.

“YOU DIDN’T SAY HE WAS ARMED!”

“I TOLD YOU HE STABBED ME! JUST HIT HIM BEE HE’S NOT A NORMAL HUMAN! YOU CAN’T HURT HIM!”

That was not true the pain that engulfed Knock Out’s body as the Urbana knocked him into a tree was star raising. He groaned and tried to crawl to his peds but Bumblebee was too quick. He curled into a tight ball as the Autobot gently picked him up. _“SMOKESCREEN YOU SAID I COULDN’T HURT HIM. HE LOOKS HURT TO ME!”_

“WELL WHEN I DROPPED HIM HE JUST RAN OFF LIKE IT WAS NO BIG DEAL SO MAYBE YOU JUST HIT HIM HARDER THAN YOU THOUGHT YOU DID!” Arcee transformed and joined the two; still clutching her leaking servo.

“For a human he sure knows how to do damage to us. He completely severed one of my fuel lines. I got it under control but I think the greenhorn is right. Whoever that is he’s no normal human.”

“STOP TALKING ABOUT ME AS IF I’M NOT HERE!

The three bots looked at each other in shock Arcee and Smokescreen had been speaking in Neocybex and the only human who understood universal binary was Raf. Who was this human? Bumblebee commed Ratchet and the bridge appeared. The three stepped through and returned home. The human didn’t stay down for long. As they crossed over to HQ he slammed his fist down hard onto Bumblebee’s servo. It actually hurt a little but it was the human’s threat that really got to the scout.

“I’LL RIP YOUR SORRY LITTLE INTAKE OUT FOR HITTING ME LIKE THAT BUG!” Bumblebee let out an electronic shriek and threw the human to the ground in fear. The way he sounded and that turn of phrase it made Bee's spark jolt.

Bulkhead watched as the human landed hard on the concrete and immediately ran over to help. “BUMBLEBEE WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? WE DON’T JUST THROW HUMANS!”

“HE’S NOT NORMAL!”

Bulkhead bent down and scooped up the human from the ground and looked him over. He looked normal enough. A little colorful but some humans were like that. Knock Out groaned and curled in on himself. Maybe the threats weren’t worth it. Bulkhead ran a light digit over Knock Out trying to soothe him.Yeah the threats weren’t worth it. “Are you ok?” Knock Out gritted his denta and hugged himself tightly, he couldn’t bring himself to answer the Autobot brute. Over the sound of his own moaning he could hear Ratchet.

“Did you get the spark Smokescreen?”

“No he said it’s inside him. He absorbed it or something!”

“What? Bulkhead give him here.” Ratchet took the human from Bulkhead and looked him over, something was wrong this human wasn’t right. He was too heavy for his size and the way his optics cycled it was almost mechanical. “Knock Out?” He whispered it as to not alert the others in case he was wrong.

“Thank Primus you’re smarter than your little brats!” Ratchet vented suddenly. This was the humans new plan, to shove sparks into tiny mechanical human forms?

“Knock Out what did they do to you, your chassis it’s-”

“TOTALED! I know I fell off the Nemesis.”

“You fell?”

“I was on the roof, it was wet, scrap happens!” That was all Ratchet was going to get from that.

“Who did this to you?”

“Well, Bumblebee sideswiped me into a tree and then tossed me to the ground!” The pain was starting to ebb but Knock Out had no plan on how to get out of there.

“I meant your form. Who put you in this human facade?”

“ WHY DID YOU GO OFF AND STEAL MY CHASSIS? THOSE SIGNALS ARE FOR MY SIDE TO FIND ME NOT YOU!” Ratchet rolled his optics at the Cons stubbornness.

“Dreadwing asked us to look for you. He said you didn’t want to be found by Cons! NOW ANSWER MY QUESTION!”

“OR WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO KILL ME?” Ratchet was taken aback for a moment by how dark the Con had turned.

“I’m not going to hurt you you’ve been hurt enough. I want to HELP if you’ll let me!” Even in a diminished form Ratchet could see the utter disdain and revulsion in Knock Out’s optics. He didn’t believe a word Ratchet was saying. “I don’t know what they did to achieve this but I am sure I can figure out how to you out of there!”

“And then what, put me back in my corpse?” Ratchet looked at him in disbelief.

“What are you saying Knock Out? I can fix you!”

“I don’t need to see the damage to know that no amount of time or work will ever make that chassis inhabitable again! I FELL FROM THE NEMESIS! I’ve been lying to myself since I woke up like this but I’m not as stupid as you may think I am. I didn’t want my chassis back to fix it I wanted it to salvage some...parts.” Knock Out wrapped his arms around himself and looked down trying to avoid Ratchets gaze. “Don’t try to lie to me Ratchet, it’s not going to work.”

“I have to heal you. We need you for Cybertron and I don’t know if just shoving the old parts in a new body is going to cut it.”

“So you know.” Knock Out held himself tighter and bit at his lower lip. He had done everything in his power to keep his past a secret. Now all of that was down the drain. “Did Optimus tell you?”

“No, Dreadwing mentioned it and I noticed...some crystal on your tank. It was rather smart of the human who helped you to keep your metal enervated with the battery. Why would Optimus know about your origins?”

“It’s none of your business.” Ratchet wanted to so very much tell the younger medic that anything that had to do with Optimus was most certainly his business but the Con was already resisting so he refrained from pushing Knock Out any further. “If you care about the damn chassis so much then keep it, shove one of your little primletts in it for all I care but I am not going to live in pain for the rest of my life just to serve Cybertron for you Autobots!”

“KNOCK OUT IT’S MORE THAN THAT!” Ratchet was angered by the Cons selfishness but in his spark he knew the younger medic was right. Even if Ratchet did get Knock Out’s chassis healed well enough to be functional he would be in pain and need constant medical treatment for the rest of his existence. Just building a new body and putting in all the necessary parts seemed like the only good middle ground. Ratchet’s shouting caught the others attention.

“Did you just call him Knock Out? Please tell me that that’s actually just Knock Out stuck in some human body because that is some seriously hilarious karma.” Bumblebee was smiling like a new build eager to see a new toy as he tried to get a better look at Knock Out now unafraid. Ratchet was in no mood. If this wasn’t such a serious dilemma Ratchet knew he would probably also get a laugh at the Cons expense but it was no longer in the Autobots best interest to be tormenting Knock Out. He shouldered the young mech aside and took Knock Out someplace that the two medics could talk in peace.

“You’re right Knock Out. I can’t force you to live like that but it won’t be easy to build you an entirely new chassis. I don’t even have the metal to patch up wounds let alone build a whole new mech!”

“It will be even harder than that. My spark is very picky so unless you have metal infused with silt from the crystal fields my spark’s not going accept it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Afraid not.” The two sat in silence for a while unsure where to go next. “I want to go back to Portland Ratchet.”

“With the HUMAN who did this to you?”

“I can’t exactly return to the Decepticons now can I? To be honest I don’t want to return to the Cons; they’re going to the pit in a smelting pot anyway.”

“Knock Out not to make light of your situation but you’re not really a threat. I am sure Optimus will let you stay here as long as you promise not to kills us in our recharge or hurt the children.” Knock Out really didn’t want to bring Breakdown up but the Autobot medic was turning into a damn white knight.

“Ratchet I don’t want to stay here. I don’t like any of you and just because you “need” me it won’t make you like me.”

“Oh but you like a human enough to want to go back to them. I am sorry Knock Out but I don’t believe it.”

“Ratchet….I wasn’t the only one she saved. She worked for MECH. Do I need to spell it out for you? I just want to be left alone. I want to be happy. JUST LET ME BE HAPPY!” Knock Out’s optics were filled with fire and though they were no longer seething red the Con’s glare still burned Ratchet’s spark. The Bot was silent as the Con's words sunk in.

“Are you sure, after Silas-”

“I’m sure Ratchet; believe me.”

“What about the Cons? If we were able to find you they will be too if they get desperate enough.”

“Well then they are going to be extra pissed because I can do almost nothing in this form.”

“Why don’t you two just stay here?”

“You are really not picking up on the concept that we still don’t like you or the war or any really anything to do with Cybertron at this point in our lives.”

“FINE I GET IT BUT IF YOU WANT TO LIVE LIKE HUMANS THEN YOU COULD AT LEAST CONSIDER HELPING US TO PROTECT THEM!” Ratchet didn’t know why the Cons refusal to stay made him so angry but at least Knock Out was receptive to it.

“What do you need?” That came as somewhat of a surprise.

“We need the keys. So we need to get onto the Nemesis.”

“Fine show me where my chassis is and I’ll get you on.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Knock Out gave the older medic one of his signature “did you really just ask that” looks.

“If my chassis is still “working” I can comm them and get you a ground bridge right onto the Nemesis.”

“We’re not ready for that type of attack.”

“Take it or leave it it’s all you’re getting.”

“You’ll need to give us some time to prepare for that!”

“Fine but I want to go back to Portland till you’re ready.”

“Knock Out I know you want to be with Breakdown but won’t you just stay here for a little while? It’s not that big a deal.”

“NO RATCHET I WILL NOT JUST STAY HERE! If you’re worried about me not coming back then I’ll just give you the message now. You can record it and play it back when you’re ready. Why won’t you just accept that I want as little to do with you as I possibly can!” Ratchet honestly didn’t know why but knowing Knock Out would rather live with some random human rather than his own kind somewhat stung. He knew they were enemies and they had been for a long time but it still felt terrible. “I just...I want to be with Breakdown and if I don’t get back soon he’ll worry.” Ratchet felt his spark soften at the desperate sound of Knock Out’s voice. He had never heard the Con sound like that, any Con sound like that, and he didn’t like. It made the Con too relatable. Did he seriously just think that and a second ago he was wracking his processor for a solid reason why Knock Out would rather stay with a human than the Autobots.

“Let’s get you home then I guess. Is there anyway we can get a hold of you besides kidnapping?”

“Yeah I have a communication system installed in this chassis but it's low frequency so you will have to already be in the area to contact me.”

* * *

 

Back in the woods Knock Out found the dead bird he had bagged and headed home. Breakdown rushed him as soon as stepped through the door sweeping him into a tight hug. Knock Out dropped his bag and gloves and wrapped his arms around the bigger mech’s neck. “Where did you go and why are you all scratched up?”

“ I fell down a hill, we should go take a nap!” Breakdown looked at the young medic with concern. That kind of damage did not come from rolling down a hill.

“Was it the Autobots?”

“I took care of it. Please let’s go take a nap.” Knock Out tightened his grip; his chassis shaking slightly. Breakdown lifted Knock Out’s legs and took off the mech's muddy shoes.

“Ok Doc, a nap sounds good.” He nestled the smaller mech against his chest and made his way to the bedroom.

“Breakdown….”

“Yeah Doc.”

“I love you.” Breakdown felt his spark surge. The Doc only said those words on rare occasions usually only after bad times.

“I love you too Doc.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all I had planned since this was supposed to be a drabble but imagined cannon happened anyway so they messed up with the keys and the lock Decepticons still picked up the humans and the base was destroyed along with Knock Out's chassis. If I can think of any more cute add ons to this story I will add another chapter. Or if you lovely readers can think of any you are always free to shoot me a request.


	3. Hey Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I decided to continue this so yay! I hope you like this chapter. As usual I like to take liberties with the times of the show so instead of what was probably a day or two I like to imagine was more like a week. Poor Raf, no food, and constantly on the road. Also while I have Knock Out the same backstory as EITW I tweaked a few details, not really noticeable ones. Also yeah Shockwave found the Cons before they left Cybertron after the omega lock incident.

Megatron stood with Starscream in the burning wreckage of the Autobot base. The Vehicons had not uncovered a single dead Bot and he was furious. He stared at Arachnid and the Forge they were merely trinkets. What the warlord wanted was peace of processor that he had truly won the war. Some vehicons re-emerged carefully carrying a mangled chassis and Megatron found himself smiling again. Finally. The Vehicons placed the corpse at their leader’s peds and quickly backed away unsure of how he might react.

The corpse was no Autobot, it was Knock Out. With the Doctor’s betrayal fresh in Megatron’s processor the warlord felt a wash of joy in his spark. At least they had gotten the traitor...but something was wrong. Megatron knew his CMO well and if he was truly dead there would have been signs. The Vehicons had been searching for hours already. Megatron wrapped his claws around the medic’s pale throat and yanked him up. He shook Knock Out like a rag doll and screamed at the smaller medic to wake up!

“YOU CAN NOT FOOL ME DOCTOR I KNOW YOU STILL LIVE SO WAKE UP!” Starscream looked at the leader in fear as bits of Knock Out fell away, the medic’s frame as brittle as plaster. Only when the smaller mech’s entire left shoulder and arm fell away did Megatron stop his assault and instead cradled the medic gently, worry and regret in his optics. Something that painful should have awoken the doctor even for a second but still the medic stayed limp, his optics dim and lifeless. “Doctor can you hear me?” There was no response. Megatron laid the CMO back on the ground as lightly as he could muster and with no other outlet for his rage reared back and punched an unsuspecting Vehicon clear across the rubble they were standing in.

“THEY WERE STARVING HIM TO DEATH AND WE JUST BLEW HIM UP!” Starscream screeched at his side.

“NO STARSCREAM! THEY KILLED HIM, AND THEY’VE BEEN KEEPING HIS CORPSE WARM!.” Megatron leaned down and tore at the smaller mech’s chest panel easily ripping it clean off. Inside there was no spark just some sort of strange battery supplying the Doctor’s chassis with power. “LOOK AT HIM STARSCREAM. NOTHING BUT A FARCE!”

Starscream reeled back in disgust. To think the Autobots had been that desperate as to have used the Doctor to get into the Nemesis. “What are we to do Master? Knock Out was the only medic who answered the call and while Shockwave is talented one t-cog replacement surgery does not a medic make.”

“HAVE YOU ABSOLUTLY NO RESPECT STARSCREAM!” The warlord was venting heavily as he slowly stroked the Doctor’s cracked faceplate.

Starscream stalled and stuttered for a moment in confusion. “I am sorry my Lord I never knew you actually cared for Knock Out. I didn’t even know you liked him.” It didn’t make much sense for Megatron to be this mad considering Knock Out stabbed as many backs as he scratched and Megatron had been on both ends multiple times.

“HE WAS ONE OF OUR OWN. HE DIDN’T BETRAY US. THEY USED HIM!” Megatron sneered his voice dark.

That had honestly never swayed the warlord’s opinion before but Starscream was not about to push his luck. “Of course Master, how insensitive of me! What should we do?”

* * *

 

“Knock Out?”

“What is it Marion?” The young mech was sitting on the couch polishing a heron skull.

“There’s an ambulance outside our apartment in the garden area and it’s been there for quite some time.” Knock Out quickly stood and joined Marion at the window. “A normal ambulance should be on the street.” Knock Out nodded absentmindedly. “Do you know him?”

“I’ll go get rid of him.” Marion grabbed at his arm.

“No no if he wants to sit out there and enjoy himself it doesn’t bother me.” Knock Out looked to the back room. Breakdown would wake up soon and if he knew the Autobots were still dogging him after they promised to leave the couple alone the bigger mech would get angry.

“I told them to leave us alone. The more they bother me the higher the chance the Decepticons could find us.” Knock Out left the apartment and headed downstairs. Out in the garden he moved slowly till he was able to place a servo gently on the ambulance. Ratchet's horn blew loudly in surprise.

“Oh Knock Out you..you….you already noticed me.”

“Not that hard. You’re not exactly inconspicuous here in the garden. Why are you here Ratchet?” The other medic was quiet for a moment, embarrassed.

“I was hoping to talk to the human who fixed you up.”

“And why do you want to do that?” Ratchet was silent but Knock Out could feel the older mech’s field. Something was wrong.

“Cybertron is gone. Optimus destroyed the lock. Megatron destroyed our base and Optimus.... There is nothing left to fight for.”

“How is that possible you had the keys you knew where the lock was? The Cons were tearing themselves apart. Starscream couldn’t even FLY for Primus sake! HOW did they beat you?”

“They got the children. We couldn’t put them in danger.”

“So you’re telling me Optimus had the chance to kill Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave and finish what you slaggers started but he chose to throw all that plus Cybertron away for the lives of three human children. See this is why I hate you Autobots because you do things half afted. Now Megatron has you scattered and without a leader. He’s just going to kill all the humans anyway, your little pets are going to die anyway!”

“I wasn’t there and you are not making me feel any better Knock Out!”

“I didn’t know it was my job to make you feel better Ratchet but I will talk you out of thinking it would be smarter to put yourself in a cyber human disguise. If Megatron is looking to make Earth home you are better off in the body you’ve got now. Even if it is a rusted scrapheap.”

“You are not dissuading me Knock Out.”

“Well let’s face it most of my usual tactics don’t really work in this form. If it would make you feel any better I could still clean you up to a hi-shine, maybe a nice tune up, it has been a while since you’ve let another medic check you out hasn’t it? I can make you feel like a real mech again Ratchet.” Knock Out switched his tone in an instant and purred his words teasingly. Ratchet could feel the smaller mechs servos running over the seems that Knock Out knew were there as he spoke. Ratchet felt his spark spin. It was a sin for the younger mech's words to still be just as effective in his new form as they were in his old one.

“I think I’ll have to pass. I’ve seen the work you do Knock Out.”

“Suit yourself but I’m not letting you talk to Marion. She gets very attached to her “creations” and with no knowledge of humans the last thing I want is you living with us! It’s already a small apartment and there aren’t any more bedrooms.”

“Knock Out!” Ratchet wanted to be angry but the young medic was right. What had he been thinking? Pretending to be a human wasn’t going to solve any of his problems. Then again he already knew that. At least he got Knock Out talking. “Knock Out I have no where else to go. I just wanted company. Can we talk?” Knock Out rolled his optics.

“What pray tell do you want to talk about because as I have stated many times we are not friends Ratchet?”

“HOW is it possible that you were actually nicer as a DECEPTICON!”

“It’s this form. All of my anger is condensed. Oh and it’s not my job to keep you distracted anymore. I don’t have to pretend to be nice so you won’t try to kill me and I don’t have to care about mechs who only “care” about me because they want something from me! If you want to talk then fine I do have a question? I am assuming you didn’t bother to save my chassis. Did they find it; do they think I’m dead?” Well right to the point and the real reason Ratchet bothered to come here in the first place. So much for small talk.

“I...don’t know. They incinerated the base. They might find pieces of you if they look. So it’s a possibility. Why were you having second thoughts about returning?”

“Of course not but if they think I’m dead then they won’t be looking for me...but that won't stop them from tearing me apart. I did commit treason you know and it’s fairly easy to notice that my spark case is missing. They probably won’t bother but...well like you said. You found me so there is nothing stopping them from finding me. I’m not that worried about mehonestly. Even with my limited memory...they wouldn’t just kill me if they figured it out quick enough but Breakdown and…..Marion. They’ll kill them without a seconds thought. Megatron has always hated Breakdown. He blames him for making me weak.”

“Why would it be his fault? How can it be another mech’s fault that you’re a coward.”

“Well it takes one to know one doesn’t it Ratchet? At least I’m the one who’s _**stuck**_ in this body. In my defense not easy taking risks when you’re the last of your kind you know. When there’s no one else to lean on. Breakdown is reliable but he’s never been able to handle real problems. I used to be a terror just like the rest of them. Ask Bulkhead if you don’t believe it but then I just couldn’t care anymore. I used to care about the Decepticons. I used to believe in them but then…. they just became the best option. After all look at what happened. I helped you get everything you needed, I helped you get the best set of circumstances and somehow you still managed to fail!”

“You’re not going to convince me that you've changed just because of one woman but please try to tell me that you actually care about humans now”

“I couldn't care less about humans good or bad. They’re just like any other species. They’re flawed and selfish but that’s nothing new. Their only problem was getting mixed up in something that was bigger than them. Their pride is disgusting. Still it’s not like I have anywhere else to go and I’ve never been rude to a being who was willing to be kind to me. Marion is just relatable unlike your little playthings.”

“I see so it’s never been humans you hated it’s just our humans you despised.” Ratchet chuckled bitterly. “Well I can’t say I’m surprised with how much you hate us.”

“Whatever. You wanted to chat; enjoy that information as you wish.”

“If you hate the Cons so much then why did you answer Starscream’s call?”

“I didn’t want the DJD hounding me for desertion but it’s more than that. I still had my duty to the soldiers.”

“You used the Vehicons as shields!”

“ THEY'RE NOT REAL SOLDIERS AND THAT’S THEIR PURPOSE THEY WERE CREATED TO DIE. I’M NOT SAYING THAT IT’S FAIR BUT SOMEONE NEEDS TO RISK THEIR LIFE IN A WAR!”

“If that’s your stance then why don’t you take better care of them!”

“THEY’RE BUILT TO DIE. I CAN’T GO WASTING RESOURCES ON CORPSES! WHY ARE YOU AUTOBOTS SO WASTEFUL!” Ratchet felt himself laughing again. “Why are you laughing at that? At least I still take pride in my work! At least I still do the best I absolutely can! I’ve seen your work Ratchet and you’ve gotten sloppy! YOU’RE OLD AND BITTER AND YOU REFUSE TO ADAPT AND IF YOU CAN’T ADAPT YOU CAN’T SURVIVE SO YOU’VE SENTENCED YOURSELF TO DIE!”

Knock Out’s words struck the old medic’s spark. He hated to admit it but there was truth in them. “I was laughing because I just realized that you’re not even like the other Con’s. You’re just cold and hollow inside and it’s a shame considering you’re so young. What did the Cons do to make you this way?”

“That’s none of your business.” There was a long silence between them. “I am tired of wasting my talent of corpses, I am tired of fighting, I am tired of running, and I was SO tired of pretending I was happy with them. Here I'm just starting to be happy again.”

“Well I want to be happy too! I’m just as tired of this war and I am bitter so why won’t you let me talk to Marion?”

“Because this won’t make you happy and you’ll regret it. Just because you’re hopeless doesn’t mean you have no hope. I don’t know if you realize this but you Autobots don’t die easily and just because you’re alone doesn’t mean you’ll stay that way. You stupid defects always find some way to keep fighting because your sore losers and you’re no fun to play with. The last thing I want is a bitter old medic like you ruining my happiness. I hate mopey whiners.”

Ratchet vented a sigh. He thought about the salvage yard he had been hiding in. If it hadn’t been for his stupid instincts to give Knock Out the news about his chassis he would have been content to rust there forever. Ratchet had only asked about Marion as a strange sort of icebreaker; even though the thought had crossed his processor multiple times it didn’t actually hold any weight. He had just needed to talk to someone, anyone. Was it pathetic of him that the Con’s berating was actually making him feel better.

“Knock Out would you like to go for a drive?”

“Not with you.” Ratchet sighed heavily. What did he think he was doing trying to convince this Con? “Are you honestly that lonely?”

“Yes.” Knock out sighed himself and rolled his optics. There was a long pause between them but eventually Knock Out scrunched his face disgusted by his own pity.

“Get out onto the street. I’m going to go tell Marion that I’m leaving with you.”

“Alright.” Ratchet wasn't going to press his luck by saying anything else.

Knock Out left the ambulance and returned to the apartment. “What did he want?” Marion was sipping her coffee and looking at some strange device.

“He’s old and lonely and I guess the Autobots are in a bad way. I told him I would go for a drive with him.”

“Is that bad?”

“Is what bad?”

“Why is he separated from his team? Did it have anything to do with the nonsense happening in Nevada right now?”

“Probably.”

“Is he in danger...are we in danger? You said Megatron isn’t the nicest mech so if he finally beat the “good” mechs that were keeping him from destroying the place then I think we should worry.”

“I mean maybe, but honestly you don’t have to. The Decepticons will tear each other apart in no time. The Autobots will get back on their peds; Ratchet’s just being….Ratchet.”

Marion hummed a little worried, “Go on your drive. If he’s all alone I’m sure he needs it. Let me check your batteries real quick before you go.” Knock Out went and sat on the couch next to Marion and pushed his hair aside. The reader still made his circuits jolt and sent a shiver through him. “You’re kind of low, don’t overexert yourself ok.”

“Ok.”

“Hmmm, do you remember how to get to the university?”

“Yes.”

“If you like you can ask Ratchet to take you there and charge yourself before you head home. I can give you the key to my office. Everything you need should be there. Do you want any money?”

“I still have plenty of earth credits and I'll make sure to charge up. Keep Breakdown busy for me please.”

“I’ll tell him you went on a scavenging adventure. He’s been asking me to teach him how to bake so I guess I can do that in between grading projects. Let me get you the key.” Marion got her purse and dug through it. “Let’s just say problems did arise with your old friends; what do you think we should do?”

“Get off of this planet but that’s probably harder than it sounds now...well maybe. I can’t contact anyone else in this form and my other chassis is now gone.”

“Gone; but I thought they were still holding on to it.”

“They were. In the base that Megatron destroyed.” Marion pulled the key from her purse and held it out to Knock Out her optics wide with concern.

“Are you alright? I know you aren’t really happy like this.”

Knock Out shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to find a way to make myself happy because there’s nothing else I can do.” Marion stood and took Knock Out’s servos in her own.

“Listen I just want you to know despite how this may have all come about and the selfish reasoning behind my actions I’m really glad your ok and you can always count on me to help you as best as I can.”

Knock Out took the key from her servos, his face warm. “Thanks Marion. I wouldn’t kill you even if I wanted to because I’ve seen enough of your earth movies and I don’t want to get deactivated or experimented on.”

“Aww thank you. Have fun with Ratchet!” Marion was a stone cold lady. Knock Out appreciated her sense of humor. “Oh wait, does he need fuel?”

“Probably if you feel like wasting supplies.” Marion laughed and walked around suddenly unsure.

“Oh wait, I usually just put Breakdown’s fuel in a glass but that’s going to be too small.”

“Do you even have enough energon anyway?”

“I’ve got plenty. I’ll need to refine more on Monday but every time Breakdown goes out to mine he brings back too much so we can help the poor Autobot out. I’ve got a clean gas can do you think that would work.”

“I don’t see why not his standards are already low so I’m sure he has no problem lowering them further.”

“Great, I’ll fill it up!” Marion left and Knock Out could hear her digging around in the hall closet before crossing over to the kitchen. “Here you go!” Knock Out took the canister. Marion returned to her coffee and her grading and Knock Out took his leave.

Out onto the street he found Ratchet and knocked gently on the door. “I’m here.”

“What took you so long?”

“None of your business. Now do you still want to go for a drive or not?” Ratchet huffed and opened his door. Knock Out scrunched his face a bit. He still hated this.

“What are you waiting for get in. Humans get curious when they see other humans surrounding ambulances.” Knock Out sighed and climbed in making sure to knock his shoes gently on the rail. “What are you doing?”

“Getting rid of the dirt. Do you want dirt in your interior?”

“You’re still just as picky as you were before. I guess some things really are just spark deep.” Knock Out huffed indignantly and yanked his peds inside.

“Let’s go already!”

“Put your seatbelt on. The humans get angry when you’re unsafe.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, now put it on.” Knock Out groaned but did as he was told. Although he was sure no human police was going to pull over an ambulance.

“I got some energon if you want it, it’s from Marion.”

“Is that what the canister is for?”

“Yup.”

“Oh, well thank you I guess.”

“This is a fun conversation we sure are having.”

“I’m sorry. I just…..I don’t know what my life’s become.” Ratchet sounded tired. Knock Out almost felt bad for the old mech. It was obvious how Ratchet felt towards Optimus whether it was love romantically or platonically it was still deep and not every mech was like himself when it came to loss.

“That makes two of us.”

“Do you honestly like being a human? Take Breakdown out of the situation. You said you don’t exactly hate them but you don’t like them either so what are you doing with your life?”

“I like it better than dying but if it hadn’t been Breakdown waiting for me I would be dead. That would be my reality. If I had to imagine this life without him.... it would still be better than dying I guess. I’m still young and I have way too many dead ex-lovers I would have to deal with in the Allspark. I don’t do much with my life as it is now but Marion is well off in human society from her father’s work and her own. MECH paid her well and she has no problem wasting their dirty money helping us. That being said we don’t have to really do anything other than entertain ourselves. Marion is a teacher at the local University where she teaches in...robotics or whatnot. She uses the school as a place to build her cyber humans and glean fame for her work which is pretty impressive for the average state of human achievements. While she’s gone we just either run errands or do what we want, we’re not limited by credits so Breakdown takes me to the shopping areas and I get clothes. I wanted more detailing done and the humans like to put art on their frames so I’ve been drawing something for myself. If we get bored out of our minds we just walk. Portland is a large area and Breakdown and Marion always finds something to do. The only menial thing I have to do is charge my chassis. Which I actually have to do when we’re done so….heads up.”

“That’s kind of a scrap answer.”

“Well, what do you want me to say? Do I like it better than being a Cybertronian? No. I feel so limited by all these human rules and restrictions and I feel like a sparkling sometimes because there are things I can’t do. I’m always afraid that every car I see is a Vehicon and every plane is Starscream finally tracking down my signature and I know I will have no way to keep myself safe. Not to mention how bored I am. I know you like to joke about how bad and lazy of a medic I was because I refused to waste supplies on scrap mechs but that didn’t mean I wasn’t working constantly. The only time I didn’t have a tool in my servo or running from your friends was when I snuck away to enjoy myself or when I was stroking egos. Am I happier as a human than as a Decepticon? Yes, I am. Why? Most of the same reasons I listed. Here I get to be normal and do normal things and yes normal life is boring sometimes but Breakdown and Marion always find something for me to do. I thought I liked fighting and terrorizing you guys but you know what’s better than that? Sitting on a couch watching a movie with the mech I love. I mean I already knew I like those things but getting to do them whenever I want and not having to pretend like it’s something wrong is amazing! The most exciting thing I could do on the Nemesis without them judging me and that wasn’t murder was GOSSIP AND OH PRIMUS IT NEVER ENDED! If it wasn’t Starscream it was Dreadwing, and if it wasn’t him it was Soundwave and if it wasn’t Soundwave it was MEGATRON! It felt like no time and I had somehow already convinced everyone on board that they were the only mech I was loyal to and they believed me, even after I tried to kill Megatron! They told me so many things like it was no big deal and they would still treat me like scrap when I failed them all because I didn’t feel like dying! Do you know what it’s like to live and fight with mechs who you are ordered to care about and care for but when it’s your turn to risk your intake they have no such considerations. When they left Breakdown with MECH the first time not only did they order no rescues they didn’t even tell me he was in danger! He comes back to me…. VIOLATED….. and I just.” Knock Out clenched his servos and vented shakily.

This was a little more than Ratchet wanted but he had no plans on stopping the other medic from venting. “Then Silas- and they had the audacity to let him speak his part! The only reason I took him on the ship instead of killing him outright was that I KNEW I COULDN’T DRAG HIM TO MY TABLE BY MYSELF!” Knock Out was quiet for some time but Ratchet was unsure if he was finished speaking or not. “The night I fell off the Nemesis….Dreadwing asked me to leave with him. We had been getting close and he hates Starscream so he asked me to leave with him. I considered it, but then I thought it had all been planned. I still think it was all some strange plan. I’m just a prize for some mechs. That’s the problem for mechs like me. I use my good looks to my advantage and they expect me to use them to get them what they want but oh it’s so funny, Knock Out is just OBSESSED with his APPEARANCE! Let's screw with HIM because it’s FUNNY to see him mad it’s FUNNY TO HAVE TO MAKE HIM SNEAK AWAY FOR FIVE HOURS TO FIX IT ALL ON HIS OWN BECAUSE WE LEFT THE ONLY MECH WHO HELPED HIM TO DIE! BUT HE STILL NEEDS TO BE PERFECT BECAUSE THE ONLY REASON WE KEEP HIM AROUND IS BECAUSE HE’S HANDSOME AND NICE AND FUNNY AND HE NEVER LEAVES AND HE DOES WHATEVER HE’S TOLD AND HE’S SO WEAK AND USELESS SO HE NEEDS US TO PROTECT HIM EVEN THOUGH HE BECAME A MEDIC BY THE TIME MOST MECHS WERE JUST GOING TO SCHOOL AND HE’S KILLED MORE MECHS THAN ANY OTHER MEDIC EVER! ALL THE WHILE MAKING SURE THE ARMY STAYS ALIVE AND HE DOES IT ALL ON HIS OWN BECAUSE WE KEEP KILLING OFF ALL OF HIS ASSISTANTS AND WE WON’T LET HIM TRAIN Any more MEDICS BECAUSE HE DOESN'T NEED ANY HELP! CLEARLY HE’S JUST LAZY, OR RACING, OR WORKING ON HIS APPEARANCE BECAUSE OH NO HE GOT A SCRATCH FROM AN ENEMY BUT EVEN THOUGH WE’RE MAKING FUN OF HIM ABOUT WASTING TIME FIXING HIMSELF WE’RE ALSO GOING TO POINT IT OUT NON-STOP AND TELL HIM HOW TERRIBLE HE LOOKS UNTIL HE FIXES IT BECAUSE IT’S MAKES HIM LOOK UGLY AND WE DON’T WANT TO HANG AROUND HIM WHEN HE’S UGLY BECAUSE HALF THE TIME ALL WE WANT TO DO IS IMAGINE INTERFACING WITH HIM WHILE HE’S TALKING BECAUSE THAT’S ALL HE’S GOOD FOR BECAUSE WE KNOW HE’S A HUGE FLOOSY BECAUSE HE FRAGGED MECHS FOR CREDITS BECAUSE WE FORCED HIM TO TAKE CARE OF A COMBINER BECAUSE THE COMBINER FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM AND WOULDN’T LISTEN TO ANYONE ELSE BUT THEN WE FOUND OUT WE COULD JUST MAKE ANOTHER COMBINER SO WE LEFT THE ONE WE GAVE HIM TO STARVE BUT HE COULDN’T JUST LET THEM DIE AND HE HAD TO MAKE CREDITS SOMEHOW BUT LET’S MESS WITH HIM BECAUSE IT’S FUNNY! THEN LET’S JUST GIVE HIM MEANINGLESS TASKS TOO FOR NO REASON SO NOW HE HAS TO RISK HIS LIFE AND IT WILL BE FUNNY WATCHING MECHS TRY TO KILL HIM WHILE HE HAS TO GO GET LIKE A FRAGGING BOX WITH A MAGIC STICK IN IT FOR SOME STUPID REASON EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW HE’S THE LAST OF HIS KIND AND THE LAST OF OUR MEDICS THAT WE NEED TO LIVE BUT THAT’S FINE BECAUSE IF HE FAILS AND RUNS AWAY HE’LL COME BACK AND WE’LL GET TO SCREW WITH HIM AGAIN AND START THE WHOLE CYCLE OVER AGAIN AND IT’S STILL SO FUNNY TO WATCH HIM SUFFER FROM THE CRIPPLING ANXIETY AND LONELINESS THAT ARE EATING AWAY AT HIM BECAUSE AS MUCH AS HE DOES WE STILL HATE HIM BECAUSE EVERYONE ON THIS STUPID SHIP IS A SLAGGER AND THINKS THAT SUFFERING IS FUNNY! ISN’T IT JUST FUNNY RATCHET?” Knock Out slammed his fist down on Ratchet’s dashboard. The old medic didn’t even have the spark to yell at him. Knock Out fell back servos over his face whining angrily. “DAMN IT! I broke one of my talons off!”

“How didn’t you end up jumping from the Nemesis?”

“I DON’T KNOW BUT I DO KNOW THAT DEEP DOWN I AM SOooooOO HAPPY THAT YOU LOST BECAUSE YOU AUTOBOTS aren’t fit to run a PLANET BUT NEITHER ARE THEY SO I AM SO HAPPY THAT THEY SCREWED UP BECAUSE NOW NO ONE GETS CYBERTRON NO ONE DOES BECAUSE NONE OF YOU DESERVE IT BECAUSE YOU’RE ALL SPARKLINGS! I HATE ALL OF YOU I REALLY FRAGGING DO BUT YOU WON’T LEAVE ME ALONE  NOW BECAUSE YOU SUCK! SO NOW I HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MEGATRON KILLING THE MECH I LOVE AND THE HUMAN WHO I AM ACTUALLY STARTING TO LIKE! YOU SUCK YOU ALL JUST SUCK!” Knock Out kicked the underside of the dashboard. It hurt a bit but not enough for Ratchet to complain. Knock Out fell to his side despite his seat belt and vented heavily a few times. Never in his life had Knock Out seem so young to Ratchet. He couldn’t believe that the young medic actually just threw a tantrum, a valid tantrum but still, Ratchet couldn’t count how many arguments he had with Bumblebee that played out just like this one.

“I’m….I’m sorry Knock Out.” Ratchet didn’t know what to say. He didn’t like thinking about how young the other medic was because of simply how unethical it was to force such a young mech into those conditions. The unethicacy of it was just through the roof but hey they were in a war and they still had Bumblebee fighting so  Ratchet didn’t really have room to talk or point digits. The fact that young mechs like Bumblebee, Smokescreen and Knock Out were all forced into this life just ate away at the older mech. It didn’t help that “hey shut up we’re at war” was how both factions dismissed most complaints. Ratchet honestly felt a little terrible inside. What had the young medic’s life been like before the war? How had he even gotten to this point? Most mechs Knock Out’s age were gone they didn’t survive the violent transition so how had a mech like Knock Out managed to adapt?

“It’s whatever.” Ratchet couldn’t imagine a more juvenile response. Primus the reality of it all was setting in. How had Knock Out even gotten the CMO position in the first place? How had he gone from being a Sylph of Primus sealed away in isolation to being a murderous Con Medic?  
“Do you want this energon or not?”

“I’ll find a place to transform.” Driving off the main road Ratchet found an empty street and veered into the woods. Deep enough in Ratchet found a flat open area and parked to let Knock Out step out. The smaller mech was out in an instant, only stopping to grab the canister before Ratchet could transform.

Knock Out walked a few feet away and fell into the grass sighing. When he had been a Cybertronian he really hated earth’s wilderness; he hated all the bugs and debris that would get in his joints, but with his protective “skin” barrier it was nice to just lie in the grass and rest. Ratchet sat down cross-legged next to Knock Out and picked up the small canister. “I’m sure there’s more if you really need it but she doesn’t have anything bigger to put it in so….” Ratchet drained the canister and vented a sigh. Knock Out had been right it hadn’t been that much energon but it did make him feel better. It was a nice pick-me-up.

“So, why do you hate us so much anyway? Why did you join the Cons in the first place?”

* * *

 

Bumblebee stared down at Raf. They had been driving forever and the two needed a break. “Do you really think Ratchet went to Knock Out?”

Bee clicked and whirred tiredly. “Well it couldn’t be a coincidence that the scrapyard is close to Portland but he might not have been going there for Knock Out.  I’m thinking he's here to visit Knock Out’s human friend.”

“Why would he want that?”

“It’s…complicated, Ratchet is complicated. If he is with Knock Out’s human friend that means I get to laugh at Knock Out again and we might get to see Breakdown! I wonder if he’s calmed down since being a human!”

“I don’t know if it’s good to antagonize them Bee. I know it’s all in good fun because of the rotten things they did to you but even as an android Knock Out’s dangerous. He popped your two tires and cut a fuel line just because you tried to pick him up. It can’t be easy for him you know. He knows what he did to you but he doesn’t know how you’ll react and I’m sure he’s not expecting kindness. Breakdown will likely be the same way.”

Bee slumped his shoulders and let out a dejected beep. Raf was right. Sure Bee liked poking fun at Knock Out; mostly because that’s all they had ever really done at each other. It just felt normal to antagonize the Con a bit but he had forgotten to take into account how scared the young medic might be seeing that aside from popping a few tires and slicing a few fuel lines there wasn’t much he could do to protect himself. “You’re right Raf but I don’t know….Knock Out never really seemed that evil to me you know. Sure he did what Megatron wanted him to but in the end, it was all just a game for him and sure sometimes he didn’t play nice but he never played to kill even if he made it seem that way. I don’t think he ever took me all that seriously which was kind of…..uplifting I guess. I don’t know it was just sort of nice to know he wasn’t completely sparkless. I was sort of bummed when Ratchet told us he didn’t want to stay. Not to mention that he still straight up hated us! Sort of cut deep you know. I sort of really want to see him again.”

“Miko said it’s because of Bulkhead and well Wheeljack too I guess. Did you see the way he looked at them the entire time?”

“Not really I was too busy trying not to laugh. Was it bad?”

“He never took his eyes off them the entire time he was with us and he stayed as far away from them as he could. Not to mention how angry he looked.”

“Miko also said that she thinks Knock Out’s human form looks hot so I don’t know if I trust her opinion on much. Can you believe she took a picture of him with her phone and I caught her staring at it. She told me that half of his appeal was that he was still technically a robot. Is that weird?”

“Weird to tell someone? Yes but that’s just Miko. You don’t really have room to talk though Bee you’re the one who thought Knock Out’s Cybertronian form was good looking so I just think that you’re jealous.”

“I NEVER SAID THAT! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF THAT?” Bumblebee’s voice turned shrill. How had Raf heard that conversation?

“Uh-huh, ok I guess I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you telling Smokescreen to back off because Knock Out was totally “your Con”. I guess I’ll also pretend I didn’t catch you taking something from Knock Out’s subspace.”

“YOU DID NOT, YOU HAVE NO PROOF!”

Raf stretched and laughed, “No judgement here Bee. I'll be pretty excited too if we get to visit them since the person who helped Knock Out and Breakdown out sounds pretty cool but I really gotta know what you took?”

Bumblebee squinted a bit and dimmed his optics judging whether or not Raf was going to make fun of him or not. “Ok, but you have to at least try to guess first!”

“Alright, was it a weapon? Like a cool gun that only has like one shot left that could kill anything?”

“No but that sounds really cool! I found his Decepticon insignia and his is super cool because it’s also got like the Con Iatric in it as well so it’s got like these weird wings on it! It’s really cool!”

“Ratchet said that the Con Iatric was a gear with like a star in the center or something. Can I see it?”

“Sure!” Bumblebee dug around in an arm compartment till he found the badge and handed it to Raf. Like Bee had said it was a Decepticon badge but in addition to the regular symbol it had wings on it. “Butterfly wings, or maybe moth wings?”

“Yeah maybe? It’s cool though right?”

“Yeah but how do you know it’s Knock Out’s and not just like one of Knock Out’s friend’s badge or something?” Bumblebee dimmed his optics; his spark crackling with displeasure. Taking something that belonged to Knock Out was one thing but taking something that was sentimental to the medic was another.

“I guess I don’t but I’m still glad I took it. Considering what happened.” Raf handed the badge back to Bee.

“Yeah.” Raf looked at the ground. “Let’s get going, we’re only a few hours away.”

By the time they reached they scrapyard it was dark. “Just like the picture. Ratchet has to be here!” Even after four circles around the area however there was nothing to be found. “I don’t understand he should be here!”

Bee beeped reassuringly, “I’m telling you Raf he went to see Knock Out’s friend, I know the area where they live. If we just scout around I’m sure we’ll find the right place eventually.”

It was hard to ignore the look of disappointment on Raf’s face. He really wanted to be helpful but he was just wasting time. “Alright let’s go.” Bee drove off and headed back down the road. Raf leaned back into the seat and tried to ignore his aching head and stomach; they had been driving for a long time. “Don’t you think that visiting Knock Out and his friend is dangerous? We promised to leave him alone and if the Cons are looking for us they could find them.”

“Maybe...but Knock Out’s not a real human, like you said he still knows how to deal some damage if he wants.”

“But what about his friend? They’ll be in danger too!”

“Ratchet said that whoever helped Knock Out worked for MECH but ended up leaving before the whole Silas thing so I’m sure they know what they’re dealing with.”

“Sure but against Megatron and the other Cons?”

“I don’t know Raf. I told you Ratchet doesn’t always act his best when scrap like this happens.” Raf slumped against the window and tried to forget about it. After another hour of driving Bumblebee found the spot. “Alright this is the forest where I helped Smokescreen so he has to live close by.”

“Bee this is just a forest! There are thousands of places he could be staying in!”

“Really are you serious...maybe he lives inside the forest? Like the house is just...in there!”

“It’s a possibility. If the person who helped Knock Out was smart enough to you know help Knock Out they could have enough money to afford a private house.”

“Alright then before we make this bigger than it has to be let’s just look around the forest. “ There were absolutely no houses in the forest and not even a path to help lead them to a more populated area... just woods. “Primus! What was Knock Out even doing here? What are we going to do now!” Bee was starting to get nervous. It was clear that Raf wasn’t doing well but with no earth credits and no plan there really wasn’t much he could do aside from drive around.

“Wait Bee do you hear that?” Bee went silent and killed his engine. There was the faint sound of a woman calling. Bee tried to zero in on the woman’s voice to make out what she was saying.

“Breakdown! Breakdown hun, please come back! He’s fine I promise, he’ll come back when he wants to!”

“Breakdown?” Bee gunned his engine and sped off towards the sound. Raf fell forward at Bee’s sudden movement and had to cling to his laptop to stop it from crashing to the floor of the car.

“Whoa Bee watch your speed or you might scare them.”

“I FOUND THEM!” Running down the hill was a rather young looking woman wearing a long white jacket and rather impractical shoes screaming for Breakdown. As she slid down the hill her gaze fell on Bee and she stumbled to a halt and let out a surprised scream. Bee killed his headlights. “Scrap I scared them!” Her fear didn’t last as she dug around in the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a strange device.

“WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HIM? WHERE’S BREAKDOWN?”

“Bee she thinks you’re a Con! Do something!”

“Bu-but I can’t talk to other humans!”

“I SWEAR I’LL SHOOT YOU,AND BELIEVE ME IT WILL LEAVE A NASTY DENT. SO TELL ME WHAT YOU’VE DONE WITH HIM?”

Raf undid his seat belt and slipped his laptop onto the other seat before trying the door, but Bee had it locked. “Bee let me out I can talk to her!”

“NO! SHE USED TO WORK FOR MECH AND SHE’S GOT A GUN I’M NOT LETTING YOU OUT THERE!”

“But Bee-” Bumblebee transformed and the woman shrieked again jumping back despite the already great distance. Bee tried desperately to speak to the woman and tried to convey that he was not a Con by pointing at the symbol engraved on his waist but he soon realized it was much to dark for the woman to see anything. She fired a warning shot and the tree just to Bee’s right splintered and fell.

Bee lurched away. “Primus she wasn’t kidding!”

“Change back Bee! Let me talk to her!”

“Alright fine but be careful!” Bee dropped back into vehicle mode and the woman lowered her weapon a fraction. Raf yanked open the door and got out, his hands above his head.

“STOP PLEASE DON’T SHOOT HIM WE DON’T WANT TO HURT YOU!” Raf moved slowly but it was clear she had no intentions of hurting him. She dropped her weapon and covered her mouth as she gasped.

“A CHILD?” She ran forward and quickly grabbed at Raf pulling him away. “A-a-are you alright did he hurt you?” The woman raised her gun again and pointed it at Bee “I can’t believe they were telling the truth about the children! What lunatics!”

“No miss, please listen to me!”

“I’m getting us out of here!” Bee let out an electronic shriek as a large shadow landed on his roof.

“Bee are you ok?” Raf tried to pull away from the woman but her grip was too tight.” The shadow jumped from Bee and came towards them in a flash scooping the two up with ease.

“MARION WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT DID HE DO?”

“Breakdown! It’s fine just get us out of here!”

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO BEE?”

“What?” Breakdown looked at Raf before dropping him with a sneer. He backed away and pulled the gun from Marion’s hands. “Marion what is this?” Breakdown didn’t give the woman time to respond he aimed the gun at Raf and backed away slowly. “You-YOU PROMISED TO LEAVE US ALONE! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HIM?”

Bumblebee had transformed again and was swearing up a storm as he made his way closer. “You better point that thing away from him right now Breakdown!” Breakdown had no problem agreeing. He trained the gun on Bumblebee instead.

“Breakdown that is a child! What were you thinking pointing a weapon at him?” Marion slapped at Breakdown’s shoulder wholly upset with the mech.

“HE’S AN ENEMY CHILD!”

“That doesn't change anything!”

“Bee what did he do to you?” Raf ran back to Bee who was kneeling on the ground venting quickly.

“I’m fine Raf. He just…. punched a hole through my roof and PRIMUS it stings!” Raf turned back to Marion and Breakdown.

“Please we’re looking for Ratchet! We think he came to visit Knock Out for some reason! We don’t want to hurt you and I am not in any danger! Bee’s my friend he’s not a Con!” Raf looked to Marion but her expression did not change. What lies had Knock Out and Breakdown telling her?

“YOU’RE LYING HE WENT OUT HERE TO RELAX! WHY WOULD HE BOTHER TO GO WITH YOUR STUPID OLD SLAGGER OF A MEDIC?”

“They’re not lying. He is with Ratchet. I was trying to tell you before you ran out of the house like a madman! Marion squirmed away and landed on her feet. “Sweetheart get away from the alien cyberform they’re dangerous! Do your parents know you’re out this late?” Oh Marion wasn’t being lied to she was just being an adult.

“It’s ok Miss uhh Miss Marion. No my parents don’t know but that’s normal. I’m fine I promise Bee won’t hurt me. Can we...talk?”

“ Of course. come here.” Marion stole her gun back from Breakdown and disarmed it before slipping it back into her pocket.

“Marion what...why did you lie to me? What was that thing? Where is Knock Out?”

“The “thing” was a weapon Knock Out helped me design after his first run in with your friends. It’s only a prototype but it looks to be a good one. As for Knock Out I don’t know where he is. He left this morning with Mr. ambulance and said he was going to go on a drive with him. The poor thing just wanted someone to chat with I guess. So I never lied to you. I told you Knock Out was out and that you shouldn’t worry. I never lied. I just thought they would be back by now. It is late and his batteries were low.”

“SO YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE THEY ARE?” Bee had been eavesdropping on the argument and he was not happy about what he heard.

“Umm is he..speaking to me?” Marion looked to Raf as he walked towards her.

“Yes, it’s ok me and Breakdown can understand him. Do you know where they could be? We really need to see Ratchet.”

“They might still be at the university but it’s late and you look terrible! You look like you haven’t slept in a week and I can hear that you’re starving! What have you been doing with this mech? Please come back to my place I’m sure Knock Out and your Ambulance friend will turn up.” Marion was holding Raf’s face and looking at him worriedly.

“THERE IS NO WAY I’M LETTING RAF GO WITH YOU! YOU’RE A CRAZY WOMAN!”

“You just scared her Bee...and I am really hungry I haven’t eaten in awhile.” Bee’s optics softened as he shuffled forward. Marion was calm now and she did put her gun away and she was offering to help Raf.

“Alright, tell them they can get in.”

“Fat chance you freak we’re walking!”

“Breakdown. Love. How are they going to find the apartment? Now let’s all put our differences aside and just go home.” Marion took Raf’s hand and headed towards Bee. Breakdown grumbled but followed the two. The ex-Con’s mood only worsened as he got in, Bumblebee was after all a sports model and Breakdown was a big mech even as an android. Sitting squashed in Bee’s back seat was not helping the two mech’s relationship. Luckily it was a short drive.

As they turned into the entrance of Marion’s apartment complex Bee spotted Ratchet, unfortunately so did Breakdown. Breakdown threw the door open violently and jumped from the car making a beeline for Ratchet. Bee shrieked as he felt his door bend at an unnatural angle.

“WHY IS HE STILL SO STRONG?” Marion patted Bee’s backseat apologetically.

“I’m sorry! Please tell him I’m sorry! Breakdown just gets so nervous when it comes to Knock Out. I think he has separation issues. I promise I’ll yell at him for being too rough.”

“It’s ok Marion. Bee can understand you just fine he just speaks a different type of language because his vocalizer is damaged.”

“Ok.” Marion looked out the window just in time so see Breakdown tear of Ratchet’s door. “Oh no,no no no no! Park please so I can go deal with that!” Ratchet transformed and kicked Breakdown into the hedges. “OH NO! NO, NO,NO BACK INTO CAR FORM PLEASE MR. AMBULANCE!”

“WHO ARE YOU? ARE YOU THE HUMAN WHO DID THIS TO THEM?” Bee stopped to let Marion out.

“RATCHET DO WHAT SHE SAYS THERE ARE HUMANS IN THAT BUILDING!”

“I know there are humans in there I am not simple Bumblebee! You can't blame me for reacting to an attack!” Ratchet dropped back into vehicle mode. “Something happened to Knock Out. I don’t know what’s wrong?”

“HOT SLAG YOU BITTER SCRAPHEAP! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?” Just as resilient, if not more, as Knock Out had been Breakdown tore through the hedges ready to fight as if nothing had even happened to him.” Marion held up her hands and motioned for the mech to calm down as she pulled Knock Out from the front seat.

“What happened?” Marion calmly looked Knock Out over. She could still feel the soft whirring in the smaller mech’s chest. His spark was fine at least.

“I’m….not sure. He took me to see a human movie at a place that allowed cars then he fell into recharge during the middle of it but I can’t wake him up. Is he hurt?”

“No, he’s fine. His batteries died. He should have had enough power but he must have surged at some point while you two were out.” Marion handed the limp mech to Breakdown who instantly cradled him tightly against his chest. “Breakdown apologize to Mr. Ambulance for acting rashly and Mr. Bumblebee for punching his roof.” Breakdown was too preoccupied with Knock Out.

“Marion we have to get him charged up isn’t there any place we can go?”

“You may call me Ratchet Miss. Unlike humans we don’t have formal and informal names.”

“Oh I’m sorry.” Marion turned her attention back to Breakdown. “Breakdown, it is one in the morning, this child is starving, I am exhausted, and your manners have been atrocious! So we are going inside and resting! I promise we can go charge Knock Out early in the morning. Now I want you to be civil for a moment and apologize for me because I know these mechs were your enemies for quite some time but you no longer want to be apart of that fiasco and they are already in a bad place thanks to Megatron so the last thing they needed was you ripping off pieces of them all willy nilly. You are embarrassing me!” Breakdown looked to Knock Out then back to Marion as she stamped her ped.

“But Marion!”

“Do not but Marion me! Do I look like a mechanic? Do you think I can fix the damage you’ve done? DO I have to repeat myself? One in the morning! I am not driving around, I am going inside, feeding this child, and taking a bath!” Breakdown scrunched his face and huffed, obviously upset.

“Ok, but I'm not apologizing to these slaggers! I’ll meet you at the apartment.” Breakdown hurried away into the building and Marion sighed angrily at the mech's juvenile actions. Once he was out of earshot Marion turned to the other mechs.

“Do you see what I mean? Separation issues. It’s not healthy for either of them. I’m sorry about your door Mr. Ratchet.”

“It’s fine I can probably fix it myself and if it comes to it I suppose I can ask Knock Out for help when you get him working again. We were actually having a decent time before he passed out on me.”

“Oh that’s nice. Well I am glad you had a nice time. Knock Out’s fine so don’t worry. Breakdown just gets upset easily.”

“It’s not his fault he hasn’t had the greatest life if you can imagine.”

“Yes but that doesn’t mean he gets to be rude. Listen you’re more than welcome to stay here in the parking lot till we wake up because I am not letting that child leave without a good meal, a shower, and a nice rest. What is his name anyway.”

“It’s Rafael, but you can call me Raf if you want.” With Bumblebee assured of his safety Raf got out and headed over to Marion. Bee drove closer and beeped. “He wants to know if he can stay too, he doesn’t want to leave.”

“Yes, of course he can. I am exhausted but I am sure we all are so I promise in the morning when I go charge Knock Out I will make sure to refine some energon for your troubles as an apology.” Bee beeped excitedly. Not only was this woman going to take care of Raf but she had energon too!

“What do you use energon for? I thought that Knock Out and Breakdown were powered by electricity.”

“Knock Out is but that’s only because his spark wouldn’t take to the android form so I had to make a strange energon barrier device so I could just shove his spark in there. Him and his form are sort of two separate entities. I won’t have to refuel the device for another five years or so. Breakdown on the other hand completely melded with his form so he needs to drink energon to fuel his spark. I still had to charge him the first time but now there’s no need.” Raf stared up at Marion in awe, she was just as cool as he had hoped she would be.

“That’s amazing, how did you build the androids to look so real?”

“Well aren’t you an inquisitive youth. Listen I love talking science but I am again exhausted so let’s get you something to eat and we can talk inside alright? It's freezing out here and you're not properly clothed.”

“Ok!” Marion took Raf by the hand and led him inside. “Stay safe out here guys, I’ll see you in the morning!”

“Night Raf!” Bee beeped quietly. His spark dimmed as the two disappeared inside but this was the best thing for the young boy. With the humans gone Bee pulled into the spot next to Ratchet and cut his engine. “Hey Ratchet.”

“Hello Bumblebee.”

“Are you doing alright?”

“I wasn’t but I am now.”

“Did your talk with Knock Out actually help?”

“Surprisingly enough it did... it reminded me why I chose to fight this war.”

“Oh, that’s...good I guess. How is he despite the whole not being awake….thing.”

“As far as he says he’s miserable but he’s extremely happy being miserable.”

“What?”

“It’s…...a medic thing Bee, I don’t know if I can explain it.”

“Ok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've actually had to re-watch Prime to remember what happened whooh!


	4. Let Me Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatron has a suspicion. Breakdown tells Raf a slightly inappropriate story.

“I have forced you all here this morning to mourn not only the good Doctor but what his loss means. It is with his death that Cybertron is truly gone from us, the lock we could have found a way to fix but with our medic returned to the Allspark we also lost the only Sylph of Primus we had left. So I want you to tell me gentlemen how did this come to pass?”

“Umm my Liege that’s a lovely uhh..speech and I for one had no idea that Knock Out was in danger but umm...Sylph of Primus? I thought we only had three of them and we lost them ages ago with little response from you so even if he was a Sylph why is Knock Out’s death detrimental to Cybertron?”

“Oh Starscream you poor fool, we all know what you did so do not even try to hide your shame! Without a Sylph of Primus on Cybertron there will be no way to rejuvenate the planet and some legends even say that without a Sylph of Primus in existence there will be no way a spark can return to the Allspark. Not only that no matter where we go and how many planets we take over they will all eventually wither and die without Knock Out to nourish them. So with the loss of our dear medic we also mourn the loss of Cybertron, of stable life, and even of peaceful death.”

“Does that include Knock Out’s spark or not because we can fix his chassis and just shove his spark back in if we can find it just floating around somewhere.”

“STARSCREAM!”

“That is about as illogical as you can get however the air commander may be onto something, I could simply clone Knock Out’s chassis and put a new spark inside the frame therefore creating a new Sylph.”

Megatron looked to Soundwave who shook his helm and gave the leader a vehement thumbs down. “Soundwave thinks that’s a bad plan.”

“Well then I suppose those who believe are simply cursed forever and we are all cursed to wander indefinitely.” Shockwave sounded flat as if he had nothing to lose. Something struck Megatron’s processor in that moment.

“You know Shockwave perhaps we should have a contingency plan, I will allow you to clone Knock Out. I however do not want the same issues we had last time someone cloned something, so make sure it is an empty vessel till I instruct you otherwise!”

“Understood, I will get to work right away.”

“CLONING,is that your solution to everything Shockwave? We already have a useless predacon the last thing we need is another clone!”

“QUIET STARSCREAM! Now the rest of you, GET BACK TO WORK!” Shockwave lumbered off to go take samples, the Vehicons shuffled off as well and Soundwave returned to his post. That only left Starscream who tried to sneak away, with Knock Out gone the air commander felt so outnumbered. How dare Knock Out go and get himself killed! “NOT YOU STARSCREAM!”

“Ah of course my Liege what can I do for you?” Starscream dropped into a low bow.

“Where did Knock Out hide that disgusting abomination?”

“I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about.”

“Did he not tell you about Silas, and here I thought you and Knock Out were close?”

“Oh that, well I haven’t had the chance to view the monster but Knock Out did tell me where he was. I will gladly take you!”

“Good. Let’s go then.”

“Umm..of course my Lord, let’s go visit the disgusting creature.” Starscream led Megatron to the med bay and then moved further down the hall till the seeker spotted a scratched wall panel. He slid his talon in the groove and after a few tries he finally got the blasted thing to click and slide away.

“A secret room?”

“Not secret, never secret my Lord just...private you know how the Doctor loved his privacy.”

“You can leave now Starscream.” Starscream clicked his talons worriedly.

“Are you positive my Lord, what if he tries something?”

“THEN I WILL END HIM, SO LEAVE!”

“Of course Lord Megatron of course my apologies!” Starscream bowed out and took off down the hall. Megatron stepped into the dark room.

Inside was a small room only big enough for two berths and some room to walk around. On the slab was Silas bound and, well... Knock Out didn’t waste any time doing what the good Doctor did best. It was a shame that the Doctor never liked putting his skills to better use. The IV drip that was keeping the thing alive was running low but not low enough to worry about. “Wake up!” Megatron pressed a large button on a familiar device causing electricity to race along the attached wires and shock the helpless creature. Silas howled as his optics lit up and Megatron felt a smile return to his lips.

 

“Well, well, well. You’re still alive.” Silas groaned and tried to move but his bonds held him tight. “Has the Doctor been treating you well Silas?” Silas didn’t respond. “No longer talkative well that’s to be expected from such a weak creature.” Megatron drew closer and circled the berth. “I’m afraid something unfortunate has happened to our dear medic so there is no longer a place for you on this ship.” Silas’ single optic grew wide with fear or perhaps hope. “Now the only difference is how I will end your wretched existence.”

“And how will you be deciding that?”

“By how cooperative you are. As I mentioned before my medic is dead or at least he appears to be. Supposedly by the servos of Autobots but the more I thought on it the more unlikely it became. A much too brutal death for a very important mech. A human however...well I do admire your ruthlessness.”

“Could have fooled me. You should have heard the words he had to say about you. He wasn’t very happy with your treatment. You should have treated him better if you didn’t want him to run. Such a shame too, I was really starting to get to know him.”

Megatron barely acknowledged Silas. “You are not a smart creature even for human standards. You hired others to do the work you couldn’t. When you came here you told me you killed them all but that was a lie wasn’t it?”

Silas was quiet, Megatron couldn’t tell if he was simply thinking or being obstinate. “Can’t say that’s not a possibility. I killed everyone at the facility but there’s a chance one of my people simply wasn’t there that day.”

“A name come to mind Silas?”

“One does.”

“Then here we stand. You tell me the name and you die. You don’t tell me the name and you meet one of my best and you die painfully at his leasure.”

“What if I do you one better. I will go get your pretty doctor’s spark and I’ll kill her for you.”

“I see. Well I hope you enjoy Shockwave’s company.” Megatron turned to leave he didn’t need this human his suspicions were confirmed.

“Wait. If it’s going to be death. Marion Kim. Ask your flighty air commander about my old base of operations. Go there and look around the local areas you’ll find her and when you do…. crush her good for me.”

“Oh you can be assured of that. Goodbye Silas.” Megatron yanked the energon drip free and swiftly left the room sealing away a howling Silas.

* * *

 

Raf pulled himself out of bed and stretched, groaning a bit as joints popped and muscles went taut. Sleeping in an actual bed after spending so long with Bee was just the refresher he needed. Eventually the smell of food pulled him from the room to the small kitchen but he found himself backing away at the sight of Breakdown alone in the small space. Marion must have still been sleeping.

Breakdown looked up from his work and spotted the boy standing just behind the corner. “You can sit and eat if you want. Marion won’t be awake for at least another half an hour.”

Raf looked him quizzically, it seemed that the Con had calmed down since last night although he still seemed a little upset. “Are you sure?”

“I didn’t make food I can’t eat for no reason.” Breakdown pulled out another plate from the cupboard and filled a half of it with eggs from the pan before placing it on the small table. “Go ahead everything else is on the table it should still be warm.”

Raf shuffled in past the mech and sat down to eat. As he piled his plate with the other foods set out on the table an awkward silence formed.

Breakdown was torn between what to do now that he was done cooking. Usually he just sat down and talked with Marion but he didn’t really know if he wanted to talk with Bumblebee’s human or if the boy would talk to him.

“Thanks for letting me sleep in your room.” Well that answered that. Still Breakdown didn’t know if he felt like talking to the Autobot child.

“You needed it more.”

“I could have just slept on the couch.”

“Beds are better for humans.”

Well that pretty much expended any comfortable smalltalk still Raf wanted to keep the conversation going. “Do you like it here?”

“Yes.”

“Do you miss your Cybertronian body?”

Well that was a little personal then again a human’s kindness was supposedly based on how much they cared for other humans so Breakdown supposed the child was just trying to have polite conversation. “Yes, but...I’m starting to forget what it was even like. Which isn’t good.”

Raf mindlessly ate his food suddenly way more interested in Breakdown than in his own hunger. It was strange while the Bots clearly cared more about humans they also easily fell into more paternal habits. They treated him and the others as if any human adult would treat an adolescent for the most part. The Cons simply didn’t care so they treated all humans the same and Raf sort of preferred that in a weird way. “Why? What do you mean?”

“Hush and eat your food. I’m going to go sit on the couch, you can join me when you’re done but Marion doesn’t really like food on the carpeted areas.” Humans were always so nosey Breakdown knew he should have kept quiet.

Raf swore in his head. Breakdown clearly wasn’t as talkative as Knock Out or Starscream. Still maybe if he asked the right questions? Raf quickly shoveled food into his face stopping periodically to actually enjoy his meal and to ponder how long it took for Marion to teach Breakdown how to cook human food and not only cook it but cook it well. With a belly almost queasily full of delicious breakfast Raf placed his plate in the sink and crossed over to the living area.

Breakdown was sitting on the far side of the couch, Knock Out’s offlined chassis in his lap. He slowly ran his fingers through the smaller mech’s hair as he idly watched whatever program he had picked on the television. One of those how it’s made shows from the sound of it. Distorting the sound coming from the t.v. was a rather livid series of chirps and squawks coming from the birdcage by the balcony doors. Raf had heard them last night too but he hadn’t asked but now he was curious. “Does Marion have a bird?”

Breakdown looked at him “Yeah.”

“Can I see him, will he let you handle him or does he only like Marion?” Breakdown stared at Raf for an uncomfortably long time before he slowly moved Knock Out out of his lap to go to the birdcage. Pulling up the sheet that had been draped over the top Breakdown unfastened the door and pulled out a very pretty gray parrot. Taking a moment to pick up a peanut from the bowl on the counter Breakdown then walked over to Raf and handed him the peanut.

“Go ahead.”

“What’s it’s name?” Raf held the nut out to the bird who took it happily and messily began to hack into the shell with its beak and feet.

“Starscream.” Raf smiled instantly.

“You’re joking right?”

“He’s gray, he flies, and he makes noise non-stop. He’s Starscream.”

“Yeah but Marion couldn’t have named him that. Did you buy him?”

Breakdown scratched at the bird’s head. “He’s Marion’s and he had a different name before but I called him Starscream. I spent all of my time here in my first couple of months and I talked to him a lot so he eventually started answering to it so it stuck. Marion’s seen Starscream, she thinks it’s funny.”

“It is funny. He’s a lot nicer than the real thing though.”

“On his good days. I would let you hold him but he bites strangers.”

“That’s normal most birds take a while before they can trust a person if their not specifically trained.” Breakdown made a slight noise of agreement as he placed Starscream on his stand. Before sitting back down Breakdown passed Raf the remote control to the television.

“Here put on whatever you want it’s mostly just white noise to me.” Raf sat on the floor by the coffee table and flipped through the channels stopping on some cartoon, as he placed the remote down, a sketchbook caught his attention. Hoping it was Marion’s Raf carefully slid it into his lap and flipped it open. He had hoped it was going to be full of designs and schematics preferably with notes to match but the first page was just a detailed picture of the city. After a few more drawings of the Portland area and wildlife, the drawings changed into something more alien. Suddenly the cities became massive spiraling towers with droves of strange spindly mechs which evolved into burnt out buildings and mutilated Cybertronians in later pages. Raf quickly realized that the book didn’t belong to Marion but with almost every page filled with a drawing of some sort Raf didn’t want to ask Breakdown about it yet in case he took it away.

Sprinkled in between the more serious drawings were rather stylized ones most of which were pretty almost collages but there were a few that were rather funny comics of other Decepticons and Autobots. There was an amazing one about Ratchet that actually was a reference to a human comic that had Raf stifling his laughter. Raf was almost positive it was Knock Out’s work from the humor. He slipped the book back onto the table and stared at the carpet for a moment and wondered. What could he ask Breakdown without the Con immediately shutting him out? Breakdown didn’t like talking about himself but perhaps he would talk about Knock Out. Not really any info Raf really cared about but it could be a start. “Is this Knock Out’s sketchbook? It’s really good.”

Breakdown’s gaze flittered between Raf and the sketchbook, a slightly worried look on his face. “You shouldn’t have looked at that. Knock Out doesn’t like anyone looking at his stuff.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know. He doesn’t even let you see his drawings?”

“He let’s me see them...just no one else. What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him I guess so just don’t do it again.”

“Was he always a medic?”

“That’s a really personal question.”

“I know. It’s just after they found his body Optimus seemed really upset and when I asked him why he was so sad about a Decepticon he said it was because the balance had been shifted. I don’t really know what he meant.”

“It’s because Knock Out’s important.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s the only one left of his kind.”

“Were they recalled, or is it because of what Wheeljack and Bulkhead did?”

“How do you know about the recalls?” Breakdown stared icily at Raf.

“Bee told me a lot of stuff, what he remembers anyway.”

Breakdown waved him off dismissively. “Ugh Bumblebee, he doesn’t know a thing.”

“So what happened to Knock Out’s caste?”

“Recalled.”

“What did Wheeljack and Bulkhead do that made Knock Out so mad?”

“What we all did despite how much slag we spouted...followed orders.”

“You used to be a Wrecker, how did you and Knock Out meet? Why did you switch sides?”

“ That’s none of your slagging business! What about you how did you get mixed up with those idiots! You can’t really tell me you’ve come out unscathed by helping them!” Breakdown’s voice rose a few octaves but he quickly became silent. He pulled Knock Out close again and slipped his fingers between Knock Out’s and squeezed the limp hand gently a few times.

“Sorry for prying. I always ask too many questions I can’t help it. I actually met the Autobots thanks to Jack and Arcee they bumped into me and then Bee showed up and yeah..I got pulled along. Not a really interesting story. Did the Autobots hurt you? It’s just from what the other Bots have told me about you...just.... well I wouldn’t have wanted to stay with people who used me like the Cons used you.”

“Didn’t stay for the Cons. Didn’t really have a choice though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you care?”

Raf continued to stare at the carpet. He knew why he cared, he simply enjoyed learning more about the Cybertronians but he didn’t know how to word it to the Con without insulting him. “I guess because it’s a story that I’m apart of now despite not knowing anything. Getting a story from only one perspective can be really boring sometimes and can feel dumb. I just sort of want to hear your side.” Breakdown nodded in acknowledgement.

“Guess I can’t be angry at that. Some stories are just hard to tell but if you’re that interested. I guess there’s no harm in it.” Breakdown was silent for a while as he stared blankly at the t.v. still unsure if talking to the child would eventually come to bite him in the aft. “Back when I was with them, the Wreckers, they were bold and brash and took no scrap. They saw Megatron as the slagger he was and realized he had to go by any means. Megatron was an angry glitch and angry glitches only get angrier and do more stupid things! Only problem was that he didn’t start out as that bad of a mech he only turned bad. Still, he had a freaking army at his command and they were nuts and did whatever was asked of them under the guise that if they did it would eventually lead to peace for all. Unfortunately, when you’re in a war like ours you just don’t get to attack the main bad guy and then everything goes away, other people have to get hurt.”

“I was in a team with four other mechs and we get told by the guy leading the Wreckers at the time that Meg’s medics are just too good so we needed to start getting rid of them. Only problem was they were always up in the sky. So me and my team get sent to pretend to be refugees who want to sign on as Cons because we were tired of rusting in the middle of nowhere. The whole charade was so we could get exact coordinates to sneak on med ships and wreck shop. We were also in charge of getting rid of the CMO at the time a really skilled beast of a Colosseum Medic named Patina. It took longer than it should have and we sort of got used to being with the Cons. Still doing our job but you know taking a little longer than we needed to. So I’m just walking around doing nothing when I bump into some other Con and he asks me if I’m going to enter the fight. I ask him what fight, and he tells me that there are fights every weekend and the winner usually gets something really good like a gun or extra rations, energex, something any Con would really want. I ask him more about it and I end up going because it sounded like a worthwhile way to spend a night. Get to blow off some steam and maybe even win something nice. I didn’t win the first one but I kept entering and I won some and I lost some. Sometimes the competition was just downright insane, On those nights I didn’t really bother fighting to win I just went to fight. One fight I go and the crowd is massive, I even find this Vehicon I got along with there. So I go up to him and I ask what the prize is tonight, it has to be pretty good because usually, the Vehicons are smart enough not to bother getting their afts kicked for pleasantries. He just points up at Megatron who’s got this waify mech sitting on his lap. You had to assume it was a mech because they had the thing draped in the fanciest berth tarp I ever slagging saw with a mask over its face. So I’m thinking it’s a femme and we’re going to get to spend the night with her. Makes sense why there would be so many mechs willing to fight. So I ask him, a femme sounds pretty good tonight but why do they got her wrapped up, that could be anyone under there how do I know she’s worth fighting for? He leans in close to me and says it’s just for a kiss. I’m thinking a kiss? I’m not getting my faceplate rearranged for just a kiss what’s wrong with all these defects. I’m just about to tell him he’s nuts because I already knew he was planning to fight when he then tells me that it’s not just anyone under there. He tells me that it’s Patina’s little treasure and that the Doctor threw a fit when they asked but Megs was feeling rowdy that night and vetoed him. He says this like it’s something huge and I can hear how happy he is but I still just didn’t get it. I’ve never even heard of this mech before so I say it’s still just a kiss what’s the big deal? He says “Well they’re not called a treasure for nothing, what’s the point of keeping an ugly mech under all that?” I say well Patina’s an ugly brute any mech off the street is a treasure compared to him. He laughs and tells me I’ve got a point but that he’s actually talked to the mech under the tarp a few times and is already quite smitten. So I say well I’m not going to fight for just a stupid kiss but if by the end the last Con standing is a slagger you don’t think you can take and I think I can I’ll help you out.”

“So we wait and weed out some of the stupid slaggers who think they’re better than they are and some of the stronger Cons who just get worn out. I remember overhearing at one point that Patina was going to fight just to spite them all but Megatron wouldn’t let him. Proved to me how nice a mech Megatron was, his best friend gets a pretty thing to like him and tries his best to keep it that way and old bucket head still forces him to give them up for the cause. So anyway willing fighters were dwindling down and the mech who was standing was actually Dreadwing. He had already beaten down several mechs so no one was really keen on fighting him anymore. So my friend goes up, he figures Dreadwing’s probably tired it’s an easy win. Everyone laughs at him but he beats the scrap out of Dreadwing. Then he gets flooded because everyone thinks they can beat him. Poor guy takes down eight of them before some Constructicon slagger takes him down, knocks him out cold. Just to piss off the guy who beat down my friend I go up there and I manage to kick his denta in. I’m riled up so I go through ten guys before I’m getting fed up. I take down the next five just out of spite. Then another two because I actually didn’t like their faces if you know what I mean. At some point, I look over and I get a pretty good glimpse of the mech we’re fighting over and they’re curled up on Megatron recharging! They didn’t want to be there just as much as I didn’t. The event had been going on for hours so I do something stupid because I felt bad for the poor thing. I tell Megatron to just send up the last dudes two at a time. I get through another ten before Megatron calls it enough, says that I’ve clearly earned my win. No one really puts up a fight because yeah everyone wanted the kiss but the only reason they were really fighting was to see what Patina’s little treasure even looked like so at least they were still going to get that.”

 

“By that point, I cared even less about the kiss I was just stupid from the energon rushing through my systems and numb from the pain, I already had bits of me hanging on by a wire so I had nothing to lose and all I wanted to do was keep fighting slaggers. so when Megatron gave me the win I was sort of disappointed. Then I look back over to the little mech and I remember why I was fighting so hard in the first place. So Megs wakes the little thing up and tells them the fights over and they pull down their hood and are about to take off the mask when Megatron says “This mech put up more than a fair fight for you and he’s pretty beat up. I think he deserves a little more than a kiss.” Everyone loses it! And I have to admit I’m a bit giddy myself. Megatron tells everyone to go frag themselves and he tells me to go to the medbay. I actually feel sort of bad for the others because all they wanted was to see what the little thing looked like but I wasn’t going to risk saying anything.”

“I go to the med bay and Megatron takes me to a small private room. He asks me what my stance on Primus was, I told him I didn’t have one. He just smiled at me and said you might after this night. He then tells me I can look but if I even think of touching a thing and he hears about it I will be thrown off the ship. I’m sitting there thinking then what in the pit am I getting then? So he leaves and then a few minutes later this gorgeous little thing walks in. Just barely past his first reform and already he’s perfectly forged. Not an extra strip of metal on his frame and he’s rid himself of his crappy sheet too. So this little starburst sways my way, bare as the day he came from the fields and he walks right past me and picks up a set of tools from the counter. Then he comes over, sets his tools down, and climbs up onto my lap and starts fixing my jaw. It was love at first sight, I thought my spark was going to explode the entire time it was that bad. That was how I met Knock Out and what sealed my fate with the Cons.”

Raf looked at Breakdown with wide eyes suddenly filled with more questions. “Did you get your kiss? What happened after you met Knock Out?” Breakdown shook his head laughing this is why he didn’t tell stories, they only led to other stories.

“I got my kiss. Nothing fancy, Knock Out wasn’t how he is now back then. As for what happened after well... For a little while, me and my Vehicon pal would go and sneak into the room Patina kept Knock Out locked away in. We may have both been smitten but we weren’t dumb enough to fight over a mech we knew neither of us was ever going to get so we decided we were just going to have fun. KO was so young and lonely and we were the only ones stupid enough to risk seeing him so he was always happy to see us. While I was having my fun my team was actually going along with the plan so the Cons were getting angry and suspicious about all their medics dying. We managed to keep them off our trail by actually fighting and sometimes even killing other Autobots. Then after getting info got harder we decided it was time to just kill Patina and get back to the Bots. We did what we had to and...we got away with it...almost. They found us out before we could get out. We were prepared to die for the cause but they didn’t kill us. They turned us into something they could use and well...we didn’t go easy but that didn’t stop them. Eventually, they drove us mad..and it turned us angry at the Bots for being left to suffer.”

“So it’s years later and I wake up alone in a ditch. I had gotten blown off of Menasor and I guess they couldn’t find me...or didn’t bother. So I’m wandering around what’s left of the city and I hear music playing in one of the buildings so I follow it. Inside the building are a bunch of injured Cons set up with IV’s and stuff and I just sigh with relief because I had managed to find Med outpost which was damn near impossible most of the time. Most Bots like to talk scrap about Con medics but it wasn’t easy for them. Even after all the damage we did Wreckers never stopped trying to kill them so they were always on the run, hard to heal up mechs when you’re also trying to keep yourself alive. Knock Out was one of the best not because he was that great a Doctor or anything but because he only ran when he had to back then. Most of the time when a Wrecker found him, Knock Out would take them down. Living like that though...it makes you nuts. So when I walked in on him he didn’t see me as a wounded friend he saw me as a Wrecker the mech who had helped kill Patina. Even as he was tearing into me all I could think about was how damn lucky I was...and how pretty he looked all grown up. He wasn’t the same though, the war had changed him. I only got out of there alive thanks to my Vehicon buddy showing up out of nowhere. Turns out life turned around for him after what we did and since they had promoted Knock Out to CMO Knock Out turned him into a medical assistant. Course it wasn’t a happy reunion, they both didn’t trust me but I was technically a Decepticon so they fixed me up. Eventually, me and my buddy made up and thanks to just fragging life I end up with them for a while. Just held up in buildings helping wounded. We’d go from battle to battle and each time the other Stunticons wouldn’t be there so I just went back to them.”

“Then the inevitable happened. My buddy got snuffed out on a run. After that...KO turned angry. At me, at the Bots, the Cons, everything. I was too fragged up in my own processor to leave him despite it all. I just wanted to keep him safe. Somehow we grew together and when I finally met up with my team again we took him with us. Then when everyone was leaving the planet me and KO got separated from the other Stunticons. Haven’t seen them since but Primus after we ran into Bulkhead at a bar on some planet you’ll never see, did he ever hunt me down. Maybe he wasn’t trying to but it sure felt that way for how many times we ran into each other.”

“How did you get on earth?”

“We were with some other Cons who came down to help Megatron a long time ago….only we never went to help him ourselves. We sort of just lived here for a while finding energon deposits now and again. Then I got a call from Starscream because Knock Out wasn’t picking up and other mechs knew I was his bodyguard. I answered it because after all the slag Starscream did previously I didn’t think he’d be with Megatron and the others. He said he needed Knock Out’s help, only when he sent us the coordinates to the Nemesis did I realise how badly I messed up. So that’s it kid, satisfied?”

“Not really... that’s kind of a sad story. How did you and Knock Out get so close, how did he forgive you for what you did?”

“I would have told you if I knew but Knock Out....even after all this time and everything I do know about him...there’s still plenty about him I don’t know and might never know. Keeping his distance... even with the mechs he cares about keeps him safe. I haven’t told him everything about me either so we’re on the same road. I think the reason he forgave me is that I stuck around despite everything he did. He didn’t make staying easy. He didn’t want me around... but he didn’t want me to leave either. Something had to give. Our love was one born out of necessity and fear, we were all we had. Love like that isn’t always the warmest.” Breakdown rubbed small circles into the small of Knock Out’s back as he looked at the unconscious mech with misty optics. “We’re not perfect kid. We ain’t always nice to each other either. The problem with us is that even though we love each other we’re still terrified that the other one is going to get fed up and leave...or get taken away. We get so scared of it that we sometimes end up just making it happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dreadwing was given a mission to take down Airachnid...he wanted Knock Out to go with him but I wouldn’t have it. I didn’t think he could take care of Knock Out if things turned sour plus the Doc had been up for cycles...it had been a bad week. I convinced him to take me instead. She got suspicious immediately and then she started picking….and I fragged up.”

“Why would Dreadwing want a mech like Knock Out to go on a mission like that. Knock Out isn’t exactly the best fighter.”

“Exactly, he makes sure other mechs think that too. She wouldn’t have been prepared to handle what Knock Out can really do.”

Raf had plenty of questions but Marion coming out of her room drew his attention away, the young woman stretched as she walked over. She smiled at the sight of the two together. “Look who calmed down, thank you for being civil Breakdown.” Breakdown turned to glare outside slightly pouting.

“There’s breakfast on the table you should eat before we go.”

“Will do. Marion made small talk as she went to heat up her breakfast. “How did you sleep Raf?”

“Fine, thanks again for helping.”

“It’s no problem for me, I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk much.”

“That’s fine I understand but maybe when the Autobots get back together you could visit.”

“Perhaps. You are more than welcome to join us on our trip to the university I have some blank androids there you can look at and we can talk while Knock Out charges, if it’s alright with Breakdown?” Marion gave Breakdown a teasing glare as she ate her food.

“It’s fine with me.”

Raf desperately wanted to say yes, it was so unique to be taken so seriously by an adult no matter his age that to turn down an opportunity like that would be crazy but...there were bigger issues at hand. “That would be awesome but I have to check with Bee and Ratchet I don’t know if we can risk that kind of detour.”

“I understand. Well let me finish this a put on some clothes and then we can be off.”

With Marion fed and clothed and after packing Raf a rather hefty lunch Marion ushed the others out into the hall and locked the door. Outside Raf ran to Bee and Ratchet and greeted them softly. “Hey guys how was your night?”

“A bit restless but fine I suppose.”

“You managed to fix your door, when did you do that?”

“A little after you two headed inside we drove off to a more secluded area and I managed to fix it but I do hope it doesn’t rain, I wasn’t able to fix the hole in Bumblebee’s roof.” Bee beeped sadly in confirmation.

“I’m sorry Bee. So...I was wondering if you guys wouldn’t mind going to the university Marion works at. I know we’re supposed to be heading towards Jasper as soon as we can but...I really want to see Marion’s other androids. It’s going to be pretty boring for you guys and I know we’re not really in a place to be making detours so I’ll understand if you say no.”

“Uhh yeah we can go! She promised me energon, I’m almost at a quarter of a tank!”

“I could use her generous gift as well, Knock Out was able to bring me some yesterday but it wasn’t much.”

“Alright I’ll go tell her!” Raf ran back to Marion to tell her the good news.

“Ok so off to the University. Would it be a possibility to get a ride from one of you lovely lifeforms or should I take my own car. If we ride with you we’ll need a ride back.”

“You can ride with me if you like. I will gladly give you a ride back.”

“Oh well thank you Mr. Ratchet.”

“It’s my pleasure. Just make sure Breakdown doesn’t throw another tantrum please.” Ratchet said the words clearly for Breakdown to hear. Breakdown sneered at the ambulance. Marion patted Breakdown’s shoulder comfortingly.

“He’s better now I promise. Come on then let’s go!.”

“I’m going to ride with Bumblebee Marion I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, it’s not a long drive.”

Marion opened the door and hopped inside, patting at the seat gently to encourage Breakdown who got in with a huff and secured the seat belt around Knock Out and himself as Ratchet started his engine and began to pull out onto the road. Bumblebee followed and as Marion said it had been a short drive. At the University the group went inside and Marion showed off as much of the campus as she could as they made their way to her office. Once inside Breakdown set Knock Out up to charge and after bringing out a few of her older androids for Raf set to work refining energon. The trio talked happily as they waited and after an hour and a half or so of refining Marion had enough energon to give to the Bots. After filling some cleaned out drums Marion loaded up a dolly and made her way back outside. She waved slightly at Ratchet and Bee who were conversing quietly in a rather abandoned parking lot.

“Hello gentlemen! I have energon! This time not in a meager gas can. The drums you can discard whenever you like but I need to take this dolly back so open up please Mr. Ratchet and you can probably go to the woods for a bit and fuel up.”

“Good plan! Can’t we recruit you as our human ambassador, Fowler’s nice enough but he sure isn’t as enthusiastic about us as you are?” Unfortunately all Marion heard was an enthusiastic series of beeps and whirs.

She placed her hand gently on Ratchet as he popped open his doors. “ Umm. What did he say?”

“He wishes we could have you as an ally. I have to agree with him you seem you would be a much more conducive human partner than the ones we work with now.”

“Well to be frank you work with children so while I am sure they are lovely and competent I have to say I would hope so.”

“We also have aid from the government and the man who represents us is….well he likes us much more now.”

“Mmhhmm yes well….me and the government are not friends but if you can promise me that they won’t try and steal my work for their warmongering then I will happily help you out. Although if I do I must ask that you at least try to leave Knock Out and Breakdown alone. Personally, from what I gathered living with Breakdown for some time I don’t think they were very stable beings as Cybertronians, now that they’re androids you can’t possibly understand the fear their feeling. They’re actually somewhat happy living with me and while I understand that they would be amazing assets to have on your side I simply wish you would see them as more than that. They are broken and feral individuals even now and they don’t have much faith in you being kind or fair to them.”

“It’s a shame Knock Out didn’t let us meet you sooner. I feel like you and Optimus would have been fast friends. Would you still be feeling that way if they were tearing you apart.” Bumblebee beeped in agreement but it turned into a disappointed whir at the medics question. That wasn’t quite fair of him to ask.

“That’s the thing they could have torn me apart anytime they wanted to. Both of them could rip a human to shreds in seconds if they chose to and Knock Out is plenty smart enough to fix himself or Breakdown if need be. If they had wanted me out of the picture they could have found a way but they didn’t. They might not have most of the necessary human knowledge but Knock Out was smart enough to buy something off Amazon and get the package so I’m pretty sure he could have figured out how to get a job and an apartment on his own. They found a way to look past the terrible things I did and I looked past the terrible things they did and we simply moved on together.”

“Yes Optimus would have liked you very much Miss Marion.” Ratchet sighed sadly as he closed his backdoors. Marion wiped her hands on her jeans and leaned against the dolly. Bee whirred comfortingly.

“Optimus was you leader but Knock Out told me he was more significant than that as well. I’m sorry for your loss.” Bee beeped loudly at her.

“You will have excuse him he still believes there’s a chance that Optimus is alive.”

“Well if you find a spark you know what I can do for you.”

“That is mildly reassuring, thank you.”

“Whatever I can do to help. I should be getting back up Knock Out should be charged by now.”

“Alright if that’s the case we can wait till you come back down and then fuel up afterward.” Bee chirped in agreement. He didn’t exactly like leaving Raf alone, even if he did trust Marion.

“Sounds good.” Marion took her dolly and headed back to the school. As she neared her office she noticed the sudden and extreme amount of damage to the hall walls. Long scratches and large puncture holes at varying intervals. Stopping at her office she found the door torn from its hinges and as she rushed inside she found the place a mess. Bookshelves toppled and hardware smashed, Marion screamed and quickly sorted through the rubble looking for any signs of Raf or her boys. Sighing she found Breakdown nearly offline under a set of heavy filing cabinets.

“Breakdown! Focus Breakdown!” Marion waited and watched as his optics cycled a few times before he sat up and groaned. His pain and dizziness quickly turned to panic as he jumped to his feet and looked wildly around the room.”

“DID YOU SEE HIM MARION, DID YOU SEE WHERE HE FLEW OFF!”

“Where who flew off please Breakdown what happened?” Breakdown’s chest heaved as he vented and he swiftly lodged his fist into the plaster wall again and again tears leaking from his optics. Marion quickly grabbed him and pulled him to the floor, holding his face tightly she forced him to look at her. “What happened?”

“Soundwave….he took them.”


	5. Too Little Too Late

Soundwave landed at the citadel and transformed, making his way to the throne room he carefully dipped his servos into his subspace and pulled out Knock Out. A smaller hand shot out from Soundwave’s chest and clawed futilely at his armor but he gently pried the fleshy digits off and tucked them back inside. They would find out what to do with the human child later.

As he approached he could see the smile on Lord Megatron’s faceplate, his fangs glittering in the sun and his optics burning with the fire of success. He stood and met Soundwave halfway. Soundwave held Knock Out out to Megatron who took the limp figure carefully. Megatron brought Knock Out close and examined him. “Why is he limp, is he wounded?” Soundwave shrugged his shoulders, he had no clue he had found Knock Out that way and there was no sign of any mystery woman.

“And what about the woman?” Soundwave played his master a sound clip.

“When Marion gets back and Knock Out finishes charging can we go look at other parts of the campus?”

“Ah, so the mysterious human gets to live another cycle. That voice sounds vaguely familiar though, why?” Soundwave reached inside his subspace and pulled out a squirming Raf and held him up to Megatron. “The little scout’s human pet! How interesting! Did you see the scout?” Soundwave shook his head. “Well, I suppose we'll be seeing him soon anyway.” Megatron tilted his head a bit to look at Raf. “Hello, Raf~ it is good to see you. Tell me, who were you talking too. Be good and answer and I won’t have to rip off a servo.”

“Just another human he worked at the school and was keeping an eye on me while Marion was out.”

“Ah I see. Now tell me what is wrong with my Doctor?”

“He’s offline.”

“I can see that. How do I wake him up?”

Raf pointed to the cord still dangling from Knock Out’s neck. “He needs electricity to work properly. Soundwave must have pulled him out of the wall before he was done charging.”

“How will I know when he’s done?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think you’re lying.”

“I don’t know!”

“Humans don’t need both servos do they Soundwave?” Soundwave shook his head and gripped Raf by his shoulder.

“There’s a button beneath the outlet in his neck. Press it once and if he’s charged enough he’ll start up.” Soundwave changed his grip and Raf suppressed a shudder as the cold digits pressed into him.

Megatron carefully removed the cord and examined the patch of uncovered metal beneath the android’s hair. Finding the small button Megatron pressed it gently, the tips of his talons just small enough. Knock Out’s form convulsed suddenly before settling back down. Megatron looked to Raf. Raf rolled his eyes at the leader.

“He’s either not finished charging or he’s booting up. It might take a while for him to online.”

“How long?” Raf sighed loudly.

“I don’t know.”

“Alright~. Thank you, Raf. I am sorry to have to do things this way but Knock Out is very special to me.” Megatron flipped Knock Out back over and trailed a talon down the small face.

“Then you should have treated him better. He jumped off the roof of your ship!” Megatron’s optics flared as he looked up suddenly.

“I think you are mistaken! Knock Out would never do such a thing, however….. you are right about treating him better. As of now, I won’t be letting him out of my sight. His new diminutive size will help that greatly, won’t it? My little light.” Megatron ruffled Knock Out’s hair with a claw tip and grimaced at the strange sensation.

“I don’t know, I think anything would be better than having to deal with you slaggers!” Megatron and Soundwave both looked at the young boy in shock. Megatron laughed heartily.

“That is a very naughty word. It certainly wasn’t Bumblebee who taught you that! Have you been spending some quality time with Knock Out? What did he tell you?” Megatron’s tone quickly turned dark.

“I didn’t learn it from him.”

“A shame, if you had spent more time with the good Doctor he could have turned you into a much better liar. That leaves this Marion then, she does sound like a strange one, I am a little disappointed we won’t get to see her.”

“You don’t really have a good track record with MECH agents anyway.” Megatron’s optics dimmed. He leaned in to get a very good look at Raf.

“Well aren’t we full of fire. I hope that lasts you till you friends gather up enough courage to stage a rescue. Soundwave, if you can stand the thought...keep the boy with you. I don’t want him to escape. I will be heading back to Cybertron to see Shockwave, so a bridge will be required.” Megatron picked up the thin cord before walking to the center of the room. The last thing Raf saw before being stuffed back into the spy’s subspace was a green portal flaring to life.

Megatron stepped through the portal and the barren landscape of Cybertron greeted him once again. This time however it was a more familiar area. As he walked through the rusting city to Shockwave’s hidden lab Megatron couldn’t help but dwell on what the human had said. Megatron was positive that Knock Out would never jump to end his life but if he thought he could make it out alive….no. It had been Dreadwing. There had been a struggle for some reason and either the Doctor fell or he was pushed. The Doctor’s staff lodged into the side of the deck proved that. Knock Out would never leave like that. Megatron pried open the doors to the building and slipped inside. The ancient apartment complex was dark and rusting but Megatron could still hear the faint hum of power from the hidden lab beneath.

He found Shockwave tinkering at a table deep in focus at his microscope. Megatron cleared his vocalizer of static to alert the scientist of his presence. “What are you looking at Shockwave?” Shockwave pulled his attention from his sample and greeted Megatron.

“You could have called I would have come.”

“I wanted to save you the trip.”

“Ah, I see. I was examining samples taken from Knock Out and I regret to tell you that I have bad news.”

“What is it?”

“The Doctor’s CNA is...mutated it looks more like the ancient Predacon CNA than that of say me or you but there is more than just that. From taking a look at Knock Out’s chassis as a whole it is obvious that he had undergone several augmentations. I had to take a scraping from his servos to get true CNA results. Were you aware of this Lord Megatron?”

“I am what’s your point.”

“Well aside from the….surprise that may come out as a result of my cloning to even accomplish the task I need a very special mineral to even begin.”

“And what would that be”

“I have no idea. However, I know that it comes from the Crystal fields simply because all Sylphs of Primus are born there. I don’t think Knock Out will be the same without it.”

“That is a very long journey Shockwave and the Fields are likely not like they used to be. What do you think will honestly go wrong, because I personally don’t think our human friend had any of that nonsense and she still seemed to do a commendable job!” Megatron carefully laid out Knock Out’s body on the worktable, smoothing out his limbs and clothes so Shockwave could get a good look. Shockwave quickly drew in close and traced the android’s soft lines with a talon.

“A human...a man-made human.”

“A cybernetic man-made human.”

Shockwave’s talons twitched in excited anticipation, even as a human Knock Out was a beautiful machine. Shockwave couldn’t wait to see deeper. “Perhaps these humans are not as primitive as you think. After all, it took our species epochs to get over the stigma of artificial creation and here a human has already reached that level of scientific discovery. ”

“At least one of them isn’t. Very good at reverse engineering it would seem.” Shockwave lifted the fabric of Knock Out’s shirt and prodded around; the outer coating of Knock Out’s form was soft and pliant.

“How close is he to the real thing?”

“Extremely! to the point it makes me nauseous even.”

“How do you know he is Cybernetic?”

“Check the back of his neck there is no coating there.” Shockwave tilted Knock Out’s head and swept his hair aside to reveal the shiny patch of metal. He ran a digit over the port in Knock Out’s neck as he looked back to Megatron.

“What is this?”

“Some sort of port for this.” Megatron held up the cord. “According to a human child who has a connection to the Autobots, it is what charges the forms batteries so the spark can connect and use the chassis.”

“Why does his spark not power the chassis?”

“I have no idea, I don’t even know where his spark is but you can hear it. Do you think you can get him charged and online Shockwave?”

“Of course Lord Megatron.”

“Good. Once you finish with that bring him back to Darkmount then you can go look for what you need.”

“Understood, anything else?”

“Ah yes an arbitrary request when you do get started on his new chassis if you can somehow manage it, could you make him smaller? I know what the finished product of your experiment will be and I would wholly prefer to deal with it in a more manageable size. Knock Out was so much more appealing when he was younger.”

“I will see what I can do.”

“Thank you Shockwave I will leave you to your work.”

* * *

 

Marion and Breakdown paced around the two cars screaming and panicking at intermittent intervals. “HOW DID NO ONE MANAGE TO SEE A GIANT ROBOT ROAMING THE HALLS!”

“I don’t know! I don’t know! I’ve heard tons of noise at the school before I didn’t think it was anything! Then he just crawled in through the door like something out a horror flick!”

“The two of you need to stop pacing! I don’t know about Bee but watching you is making me sick!” Bee beeped hysterically. “Well alright. Listen up the three of you! We don’t have to panic they won’t kill Knock Out and they won’t even kill Rafael! They’ll use him as bait. Not good of course but they won’t bother killing him.”

“Probably but BAIT means that we still have to go and get him! I may have worked with MECH but I’m not a hardened ex-soldier! I’m a sci-fi nerd who lives alone with two androids and a parrot! Breakdown might be able to take any number of humans down but he certainly can’t take down a Cybertronian!”

“You made him a Cybertronian frame. We saw it when we found Knock Out! Optimus destroyed it but you could make him another one. How long do you think it would take you?”

“YOU DESTROYED IT! I Know it wasn’t very good but SERIOUSLY! Months probably! My machine guy probably isn’t going to believe I’m going to build another giant robot sculpture. Alright…..he might but still, Megatron doesn’t seem like he’s that patient of a mech. We need to move fast! Do you even know where Megatron is?”

“She’s right Ratchet. They won’t keep Raf alive if we don’t show up soon!” Bee whirred and shrieked.

“I know Bee but we need to think of an actual plan! Megatron is in Jasper, Nevada. Do you even know where that is?”

“Yeah there was bullshit about it on the news but that’s still states away! A two days trek if we drove non stop!”

“Can you build a ground bridge if I helped you?”

“First off what? Secondly how big is it?”

“It creates rifts that can transport on anywhere they please and it is fairly large.”

“Yeah..no. That might take me a week. I’ve got some MECH tech but not a whole shitton of metal just lying around. The best thing we have is a receiver that picks up Decepticon frequencies.”

“That’s...useful but if driving is our only good option then we should fuel up and go.”

“Umm ok. Is that for all of us or….what? What if they come back because they can’t figure out basic human technology?”

“YOU CAN’T LEAVE KNOCK OUT ON THAT SHIP! I won’t let them separate us again!” Breakdown’s servos curled and his frame shook with rage.

“We won’t but at this point Breakdown it’s either you’re with us or you’re a human. I doubt Megatron will come back but if you’re worried I would rather have an ally alive and well then bring two more easy targets along for the fight. If you just want us to save Knock Out then I suggest that you and Marion leave this place for a bit. If you want to help us save him then it’s all or nothing. It’s not just this one mission. You’re an Autobot again or you’re not.”

“Ratchet that’s not fair!” Bee beeped and knocked into the ambulance.”

“I DON’T CARE IF IT’S FAIR BEE! What is your answer Breakdown?”

“YOU DON’T GET TO DO THIS TO HIM! WHAT DID I SAY MR. RATCHET!”

“Marion, please. It’s fine. I’ll help you as long as I have your word that you aren’t going to shaft us when everything is sitting pretty in the end. KO and I don’t waste our time working for free anymore. Your payment is your promise!”

“You have our word. Marion do you have more than just that one blaster?”

“Yeah I have another one, why?”

“You should have a weapon. Even if you leave this state.”

“The only state I’m going to is Nevada with you. I’m not getting left behind and since I am an adult you can’t stop me because I can drive there all by myself.”

“Alright. I’ll take you home and you will gather supplies while we refuel. Let’s go we don’t have any more time to waste.”

* * *

 

Shockwave carefully pressed the small button on Knock Out’s neck and watched in rapt fascination as the tiny mech’s chassis writhed and his optics fluttered to life. Knock Out’s back arched and his digits curled and his vocalizer emitted a shrill scream as he lurched into a sitting position. His chassis vented deeply and then went still. Shockwave’s spark burned brightly. The medic's new form was fascinating. Humans, like most organic life, were small and delicate and to think someone was able to create a cybernetic creature that small was astounding. The scientist couldn’t understand why Megatron wanted him to continue with his cloning; Knock Out was already perfect the way he was. Still, the possibility of what would come from his cloning was still tempting enough.

It took a few clicks but eventually, the smaller mech began to stir again. Knock Out vented deeply and stretched his limbs. As his optics focused the medic immediately wished he hadn’t bothered. This was literally his worst nightmare. “SHOCKWAVE!” Knock Out jumped to his peds and stumbled back as far as he could go. The scientist slowly moved forward. "It's....good to see you again!" Knock Out forced a smile as he pressed into a wall.

“Do not panic Doctor. You are safe now.”

“SAFE? I WAS NEVER IN DANGER!” Knock Out bit his lip to hush himself. “I mean thank you. Who saved me? How?”

“I don’t know but if I had to guess Soundwave. He probably sent Laserbeak to retrieve you. You do not have to lie to me, Doctor. I want to know everything. I won’t relay our conversation to Megatron if it endangers you any.”

“It’s not an exciting story. Dreadwing was angry about Starscream just waltzing back in, he wanted me to leave with him; to leave our illustrious leader to rot. Wouldn’t take long. I thought about it but changed my mind. We fought and I went crashing down. I onlined like this and the human who saved me told me how she found me and offered to help. Didn’t think coming back to the Cons like this would really work and to be honest I really didn’t feel like coming back anyway.” There was a long pause of silence. Shockwave's loyalty fluctuated so it was hard to know how he was going to react.

“I couldn’t blame you. Integration is in our code and you have mastered it with the humans. I’m sure none of them could tell the difference.”

“Maybe by looks but humans are very picky in terms of ministrations. I mostly stayed away from other humans. I didn't want to risk it.”

“A shame you did not get enough time to gather more information. Still, I am sure your form will come in handy in the renovation of this planet so I have no plans on discarding it. It will take some time to create a new chassis for you. I will try to hold back my curiosity till we can get you out of there...unless you wouldn’t mind-” Knock Out swore sometimes Shockwave had no filter.

“I do mind! I understand your intrigue but this form is very sensitive and a bit primitive. I can't turn off my pain receptors.”

“As previously stated I will keep it in the back of my processor. Tell me Doctor do you need anything else?”

“How did you get me online?”

“I created an adaptor and plugged it into the ship and then your cord into the adapter. You charged within minutes. How long will this frame last before it needs to charge again?”

“Seven earth cycles but I usually don’t wait that long.”

“How restrictive.”

“You would cry at how little my processor can hold. I’m missing almost three-fourths of my memory banks and nearly all of my medical files, there’s probably even more important info I’m missing but I can’t remember it to even know that it’s gone! Talk about spring cleaning.”

“Is that information gone forever?”

“No but I doubt Marion's dumb enough to stick around for you to visit her twice! She’s not an Autobot pet she’s a scientist. She has no problem picking up and running.”

“ How fitting for you Doctor. We’ll find a way to retrieve your databanks from the human. Rest assured. I need to take you to Lord Megatron now.”

“I would really rather not. Can’t you just let me go back down? You could say I got away. I could call you every night and tell you all the things I learned that cycle. Our own little project.” Shockwave’s optic went dim at the medic's words.

“Afraid not. While that sounds like a tempting venture Lord Megatron has too much interest in seeing that you stay by his side. I can’t blame him for that either. He is not quite well I have noticed. It would not be wise to go against him at this time.”

“Dark energon I’m afraid. I can’t help an unwilling and in Lord Megatron’s case threatening patient.”

“Sounds like our Lord. Your skills are wasted here Knock Out.”

“You’re telling me.”

“I still must deliver you to him.”

“I figured you’d say that." Knock Out sighed. "Let’s go.” Shockwave unplugged the adapter and the attached cord and placed them in his subspace before returning to Knock Out.

“Would you like a to be carried? I would prefer not to be forced to watch my every step.”

“If it eases your discomfort I suppose I can submit myself to that sort of degradation.” Shockwave let out a curt hum of a laugh.

“Your humor is so strange. I know you like to be pampered why is carrying you now humiliating?”

“It’s really not. That’s the whole point. It’s sarcasm. You still remember sarcasm I’m sure.”

“I prefer puns. Wordplay is easier to find humor in.”

“You would.” Shockwave held out his servo and helped the smaller mech get seated on the top of his chest.

“Secure?”

“Onward my trusty mount!”

“I see the humor now.”

“Good I’m glad.” Witty banter was the only thing keeping Knock Out's spark from exploding.

“This is Shockwave requesting a bridge.” A vivid green light tore the space open in front of the two. Once the portal stabilized Shockwave stepped through.  On the other side, Megatron was sitting on his throne wearing a toothy smile.

“That was quick. You almost never let me down Shockwave.”

“The solution was simplistic.” Megatron didn't seem to care, his optics were focused on Knock Out.

“Welcome home Knock Out.”

“Thank you Lord Megatron. Am I still required to bow? It’s pretty obvious that I am lower than you.”

“You can forego the formalities Doctor. I hope you don’t mind but I killed your pet. I can get Shockwave to embalm whatever’s left for you to play with though. If your spark’s that broken up about the news.”

“Toss it. I never want to see it again.” Megatron’s optics went wide at the sudden chill in the smaller mechs words.

“Whatever you would like Doctor.” Megatron’s smile grew wider. His little medic wasn’t bitter or depressed. He was just bored with his playthings. “Would you like some humans to play with? With the Autobots in shambles, I’m sure it would be easy to pick something up.”

“No need to clutter my medbay.”

“Well how about some Insecticons then? I’m sure you and Shockwave can think up some fun experiments to keep you entertained? Genetic mutation perhaps? That was always one of your favorites.” Lord Megatron was being weird. He was talking down to him but not in the usual way. He hadn’t spoken to Knock Out this way in eons.

“Umm. Thank you for your generosity Lord Megatron but no. Shockwave’s going to be busy and I can’t really enjoy experimenting like...this.” As Shockwave neared the throne Megatron stood and plucked Knock Out from the scientist's chest.

“Something else perhaps, to entertain your creative side? It’s been so long since you’ve played something for me. If I were to get something crafted for you would your digits still remember the notes I wonder?” He took a moment to wave the scientist off. “You’re free to leave Shockwave.” The scientist needed no flattery, he left to prepare for his trip.

“I can tell you they won’t. My processor has little capacity. I doubt Marion would have bothered to install my musical knowledge.” Knock Out wasn’t sure about that since she had given him other artistic knowledge but this wasn’t really about whether or not he could and more that he really didn’t want to. Why was Megatron treating him like a new build!

“WHAT?” Megaton went stiff, his optics filled with rage.

“Like I was telling Shockwave there’s no need to worry she has the rest of my databanks backed up but for now I only have what she gave me and a chunk of free space she left for my future experiences in this form.”

“Do you still remember your past Doctor?”

“Yes, why?” This was weird. Knock Out didn’t like where this was going.

“Because I have only just remembered. It took losing you to realize how terribly I’ve been treating you.”

“Umm….what?”

“You are more important than any relic and I’ve been sending you to do menial tasks.”

“All…..for the cause though Lord Megatron. My vanity gets the better of me but I’m still very capable.”

“Of course Doctor. Still, there will be no more of that I promise. Once Shockwave gets your new frame made things will go back to the old days.”

“The old days? When I spent my cycles locked away in a room?”

“Of course not Doctor! Nothing that extreme. However, I want you by my side.”

“I already am my Lord.”

“Metaphorically speaking yes. I mean physically. It’s clear no other than myself can protect you and there is little you can do at the moment anyway”

“That is really not necessary my Lord. I’m perfectly capable even in this form plus I’m sure there’s…..something my little servos can help with." Knock Out bit at his lips now, this was not good.

“We will find something to keep you entertained my little light but as of right now I want you to tell me what happened to you.” Megatron positioned the small mech on the armrest of his throne and sat back down. All Knock Out could do was grit his denta and smile, he was doomed.

* * *

 

Marion snored in her sleep but Ratchet found the human mannerisms rather relaxing. It was the only thing calming his nerves at the moment. They had been driving for some time now and night had fallen. They had been lucky but the old mech feared at any moment a Con was going to attack. A few cars ahead Ratchet could see Bumblebee as well as could be even still a pang of fear shot through him when he saw the Urbana change lanes and onto an off-ramp. Ratchet just barely managed to follow him.

The two drove till they found an empty wooded area. Bee took a sharp turn and hopped the curb into a forest preserve parking lot. Ratchet did the same. In the safety of the woods, Bee transformed. “Ratchet someone is following us!”

“What? How?”

“I don’t know but I can feel it.”

“It’s foggy and cloudy in this area so it’s possible. We shouldn’t have stopped then!”

“If it’s a Con they won’t be expecting us to be together. We can surprise them!”

“Surprise them! Bumblebee we have a human and a ex-Con with us!”

“They’re safe inside you! We could-” Suddenly the trees around the two began to bend as something rushed down from the sky. Bee switched to his stingers.

“MARION! BREAKDOWN! UP AND AT EM.” Marion was startled awake. In the back cab Breakdown onlined as well.

“What’s the damage?”

“Don’t know. Get out. I need to transform.” The two quickly stumbled out and ran a few good feet away before drawing their weapons at the sky. Ratchet transformed his scalpels at the ready. “Breakdown?”

“Doesn’t sound like anyone I remember but uhh….don’t count on that.” A good distance away a Cybertronian ship landed. If it was an actual mech; they were massive. A platform descended from the ship. On it stood more Autobots. Breakdown grabbed Marion stole off to cover.

“What are we doing?”

“Hiding.”

“Why?”

“Because not all Autobots are nice.” The two watched the Bots unite.

With the excitement of the reunion dying down Miko and Jack looked around confused. “Uhh Bee, where’s Raf?” Miko looked up at the dejected looking mech.

“There is another human involved with you?” Ultra Magnus looked to Arcee.

“Well there should be. Bee?” Everyone’s optics were on Bee now.

“He was taken...by Cons”

“He was WHAT? BEE! HOW?” Bulkhead’s optics went wide with shock.

“What? What? Bulk what did he say? Miko spun around to face the jeep.

“He said Raf was taken by CONS!”

“How did that happen?” That seemed to be the consensus of the group, Bee turned to Ratchet for help.

“It’s….I went to see Knock Out. When Bee came looking for me they ran into the human who helped Knock Out. Some things occurred and Marion offered us fuel and Raf wanted to see some of her work and….we all thought it would be worthwhile to wait around a day. We all just needed a cycle to recharge. The Cons were looking for Knock Out but they took Raf as well.”

“Is this team incapable of keeping a low profile? Where is this other human? Why were you visiting a Con?” Ultra Magnus glared stoically at the medic.

“I brought her with us, she insisted. Marion, Breakdown?” Ultra Magnus' audials twitched.

“Ratchet are you implying that you also brought another Decepticon with you as well?”

“A moment Magnus.” Ratchet caught sight of Marion further in the forest hunched over by a tree. He rushed over. “What’s wrong?” Rachet knelt down. Breakdown was curled in on himself venting heavily. Marion was running her fingers through the mech’s hair and doing her best to calm him down.

“He’s just upset. I don’t think he feels comfortable having you all here at once.”

“They aren’t going to harm him he’s being ridiculous.” Marion’s eyes were cold and steely as she turned to glare at Ratchet.

“Just give him a moment Mr. Ratchet.” Her words were terse and while polite they dripped with poison. If the young woman had been twenty feet and made of steel Ratchet would have found himself cold-cocked.

“I'm sorry. Just...we are still in a hurry.”

“We’ll join you in a few.”

“Alright.” Ratchet went back to the group.

“Everything alright?” Bee looked nervously over at the humans in the woods. Ratchet nodded

“Ratchet do not just brush me off! Where is this Con?” Ultra Magnus was not having insubordination of any kind. Even in a crisis.

“He’s….not a threat. He’s changed.”

“I don’t solely trust in the judgment of others. Inform him to show himself!”

Ratchet grit his denta. “Marion?”

“It’s fine. We’re coming. Just ask Captain Cosmo over there to keep his distance.”

Ultra Magnus raised an optic ridge even if his military status meant nothing to these humans surely they must understand it wasn’t wise for them to speak so loosely to a creature five times their size! “Miss my name is Ultra Magnus and I don’t think you truly understand the repercussions of harboring a Decepticon.”

“Oh, what are you going to do step on me? Do it!” Ratchet covered his face with his servos. This woman was worse than Miko.

“I-uhm. Miss just show us where you and your accomplice have hidden the Decepticon and I will take you both someplace safe.”

“Well, that’s going to be a little tough. The Decepticon is my accomplice and he has a name, not as if you care! You will also not be taking me anywhere except wherever you’re planning to go. I don’t leave my experiments let alone my friends in the hands of arrogant bigots!”

“Miss I do not like your tone or your games!”

“Likewise. It’s no reason Knock Out didn’t want to help you!” Ultra Magnus didn’t know what to do. An insubordinate child was one thing but this woman was outright outraged with him! Insulting him! Who did she think she was; what had the Cons been telling her!

“Woah I think she likes you, Ultra Magnus. Picked yourself a good one Breakdown; long time no see.” Wheeljack tried to get close to see what had become of the Stunticon; One servo gripping the grenade at his hip. Marion wasn’t having any of that. She pushed herself and Breakdown further back and pulled out her blaster.

“Wheeljack! Please.” Ratchet quickly rushed in a picked up both Marion and Breakdown. “Ultra Magnus this is Marion. She builds androids. Cybernetic humans. Breakdown and Knock Out had..some incidents that almost got them killed. Marion saved them. They might not like us all that much but we have the same goal. We need to break into Darkmount and we need to do it soon.”

"Well. They are clearly not much of a threat. We can help each other out and then I want them gone. Our war is no concern of humans or things masquerading as them."

"Fine by us. Tough luck Doc. Looks like the fuzzy reconciliation ends here."

"Then it's settled. Now, what next?"

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly together again!


	6. Thoughtless Care

“Sooo~ how’s the takeover going?” It had only been three days and Knock Out was already losing his mind. He couldn’t take it. He needed to actually do something that wasn’t just sit on Lord Megatron’s throne or be stuffed inside his subspace! He had done nothing but sleep, read, or draw for hours and it was taking all of his strength not to just book it.

“Well enough. I fear we have already lost our edge though. The humans have been much more cooperative. Confident. I think the Autobots have regrouped. Though they are still likely weak.”

“Likely. Any plans to fish them out besides the little captive?”

“None I’m afraid. I would go back to terror but I want the humans lulled into a false sense of safety.”

“To be honest I don’t think they will be lulled. However, I agree that outright violence won’t work. If I may suggest perhaps a plague. A virus. An airborne toxin. I know you don’t want to kill off your workforce but there are plenty of them to still be able to send a polite reminder that we are still here and superior. Then you can deny it and blame it on some other district. Like Canada or whatever.”

Megatron turned to Knock Out and watched the small mech fidget mindlessly. “ An excellent idea Doctor. Perhaps in time.” Megatron had assumed that the medic's discomfort simply stemmed from being forced into close proximity. However the doctor usually only became uncomfortable when the leader was angry. There had to be some other reason the medic was upset. “Are we alright Doctor? Would you like another nap or perhaps Soundwave to update your datapad for you?”

“No, no. I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You haven’t stopped moving since you woke up. How can I make you more comfortable?”

“Well can you blame me? I may have no wheels and no T-cog but I still can’t sit still for very long it’s in my spark. As for comfort I can’t see what you can do my Lord. You want me here so here I am.”

“I don’t want you to be unhappy. How about a walk around the ship. Perhaps I can let you go play around with Shockwave in his lab?”

“The walk sounds nice.”

“Excellent. I could do with a walk my- Soundwave?” The mech in question stomped in and was obviously upset. The blinking frowny emoji was obvious enough. While Knock Out was not pleased by his return it didn’t stop the lingering feelings of concern for his comrades. Perhaps he was just as soft as he feared.

“What’s wrong Soundwave?” The spy froze for a moment. He wasn’t sure if he should reveal the hostage they had collected to Knock Out. It was doubtful that the doctor had acquired any more sentiment for humans then he already had but still...Knock Out had a soft spot for juveniles of all species despite how he tormented the human children in the past. For one of the few times in Soundwaves life though he decided to be a bit selfish. The human child was really starting to grind his gears!

Soundwave turned to Knock Out and flashed his frowny emoji face again before pulling out Raf and shaking him a bit. Knock Out stared up at the mech stoically. “Human.”

“I can see that. What’s the problem?”

Soundwave pondered the Doctor. It was unlikely that he would still be able to communicate wirelessly with him. “Messy. Leaking! Whining! Stubborn.”

“Well he’s a juvenile organic and you have him stuffed in your subspace. They tend to not respond positively to stress. Did you transform with him?” Knock Out tried to focus on Soundwave and not Raf who looked horrible. The boy was practically sobbing and looked sick, with glassy eyes and a thick sheen of sweat coating his skin. The sight despite all best efforts made Knock Out’s spark sting.

“Affirmative. Patrol.”

“Did you at least put him in your cockpit?”

“Negative.”

“So you left him to just get knocked around in your storage?”

“Affirmative.” Knock Out spared a glance at Raf and spotted a large splotch of dirty red covering the boy’s leg.

Knock Out turned to Megatron. “My Lord I think the child might be broken. They might be tough in spirit but they are naturally weak things. Also, I think Soundwave might be contaminated. Nothing dangerous but he deserves a deep clean after his valiant service as a guard. Could I, with Vehicon company, be permitted to my medbay to look our little hostage over. I might be human sized but considering I am still made of metal and that I believe the child is leaking human vital fluid I promise you I will be able to handle the situation. Also, I fear your presence will only worsen the situation.” Megatron judged the doctor with sharp red optics. He wasn’t smiling as he was before. That was to be expected he wasn’t pleased by Knock Out’s judgment of the situation. Still, the small mech had a point the child looked disgusting and Primus knew Knock Out needed something to do.

“Soundwave. Go fetch a Vehicon and then enjoy a break. I think the Doctor is right. The child is starting to reek.” Soundwave curtly nodded. As he attempted to shove the child back into his subspace so he could leave Knock Out called out to him.

“Oh, Soundwave! Why not just give me the child now? Just send the Vehicon in so you won’t have to come back here.” Normally Soundwave would argue. He saw all his missions through to the end no matter what but today his insides were sticky and foul and he wanted to be rid of the disgusting organic. Carefully he knelt down and passed off the child. A look of disgust passed over Knock Out’s face but he pushed through it and held the human child tightly. Soundwave displayed a small flower and the letters TY! to the medic before heading off to find a suitable Vehicon. The spy never thought he would ever be so thankful to have Knock Out’s help.

As they waited Knock Out tried to offer the boy small shows of comfort. Running his digits through Raf’s hair made the boy’s breathing less ragged and erratic. It also made Raf cling to him desperately and Knock Out tried not to cringe when Raf started sobbing again. The boy's snotty tears and day old bile soaking through Knock Out’s clothes. He may not have been sparkless towards humans anymore despite how disgusting they could be but the clothes he was wearing were his only set and Knock Out didn’t want to have to continually reek like dying organic child. Megatron’s continual crushing gaze was also not making the medic feel any better about the situation. Luckily the Vehicon arrived soon and even better it was a grounder.

“You uhh called for me sir?” The Vehicon knelt and bowed. It was clear he was nervous, Vehicons didn’t like being singled out. Megatron gave him little attention as he swiftly picked up Knock Out and placed him on the ground.

“Take our good Doctor to his medbay and make sure nothing happens to him. If he even gets so much as a scratch I am throwing you out of the airlock do you understand?”

“Crystal clear my Lord! Please uhh come with me Commander Knock Out.” Knock Out carefully hiked up Raf before following the generic out.

It was a long, slow walk and a part of Knock Out wanted to just let the generic carry him for Raf’s sake alone but the other more selfish side of him wanted to milk this alone time for all it was worth. Raf didn’t seem to be in too much danger and to the Pit if Knock Out was going to ever ask a Vehicon to carry him. So they walked. Despite his lack of interest Knock Out tried to make small talk. “Sooo~ what do you call yourself?”

The Vehicon looked down at the Doctor again not sure if he had heard right. He might have not. Knock Out practically needed to shout to speak now so it was likely he had heard wrong. “I’m sorry what?”

What a defect. No. That was being too harsh. What had once been the pleasant hum of the ship and its equipment was now loud, monotonous, and aggravating. It was understandable that the generic might not hear him. Frag it and his pride. Knock Out was done with this walk. All he wanted was the safety and more importantly relative quiet of his medbay. He was going to have to schmooze the generic. “I asked you what you called yourself. I know you all pick special names for yourselves. You should tell me yours.”

The Vehicon felt a shiver run through him. So he hadn’t misheard. What was worse was even without his original chassis the Doctor was still able to use his terrifying sweet talk. “W-w-w-why Commander?”

“Well because despite my size I am still of higher rank than you so you must but don’t be afraid. I won’t rat you out. On the contrary I want your help.”

“My h-h-help?” This wasn’t good.

The doctor had once been one of the nicest higher officers besides Breakdown but he quickly went downhill after his partner died. It wasn’t really a shock but since the medic also got very bored he often spent his time conducting “fun” experiments that he would test out on other Vehicons. Usually, this sort of small talk was how he would get the poor saps into his med bay. Ask them for something simple like an extra servo in the lab and boom next thing they knew they were on a table begging for their sparks! The poor generic was trapped though. Despite Knock Out being tiny now, the other mech was still a higher officer and if he even so much as fought back to get away he would be killed anyway! He had been set up! “Over thinking things are we? I can hear your plates rattling. Don’t fret. I have no interest in fun today. My size won’t allow me. I just want to offer you a deal.”

“A deal?” The generic panicked at the medics words and at having to push another distracted Vehicon out of Knock Out’s path. This was too stressful!

Knock Out smiled. He had him. Why not hit two jets with one missile though? “Mmhmm. I’ll be stuck like this for some time and I personally don’t like being Lord Megatron’s throne ornament. That being said he likely won’t leave me alone so if I want to do anything I will need protection. He doesn’t put much stock in you and the other generics but I do. Under the right instruction of course. So I was wondering if you would like to be my personal bodyguard. Lord Megatron will insist that only he is strong enough or at least one of the other higher officers but I will insist that the idea is unfeasible. If you say yes you get to follow me around and most likely spend your cycles lounging around the medbay. All I ask is a bit of discretion. I’m still me after all and I don’t want everything I do reported to Lord Megatron. I will even give you permission to carry me so you don’t have to worry about other pesky careless mechs. You would like that, wouldn’t you?”

The Vehicon thought it over. It was understandable that Knock Out wanted some privacy. Lord Megatron had been pretty adamant after the young medics return that he never leave his sight. That likely didn’t gel with Knock Out. Still, why ask him, a Vehicon? Why not Commander Starscream or Shockwave? Surely they would understand the medics plight even if they didn’t want to enrage their leader. “Why me?”

“Why you? It's because you’re disposable and I mean it in the nicest way this time. The other officers have more important duties to attend to then helping me reach cupboards and carry me places. Besides to be honest they likely don’t really care that much about me since I can’t really help further their own agendas, but I can still help you! So what do you say?”

The Vehicon didn’t know. Sure the idea seemed worth it but who knew what Knock Out would ask him to do. Still sitting around the med bay all day sounded pretty awesome. “It’s Emmet.”

“Emmet? Isn’t that a human name?”

“Well yeah. I just kind of like it. A bunch of us have human names. They make us feel unique.” Raf suddenly scoffed bitterly. Looks like someone was coming out of their panic attack and was in a sassy mood again. The boy had the right, it wasn’t as if the generics were any nicer to humans even with their sentiment. Knock Out rubbed at the boy’s back but hushed him.

“It’s a perfectly fine name I suppose. Emmet, how about we speed this along. I’m sure you trying to keep to my pace is aggravating so if you wouldn’t mind?” Knock Out pointed at the Vehicon's servo and then down to the floor.

“Oh yeah sure.” Awesome the Doctor was being so cool! Maybe being forced into that human frame gave him a reality check and kicked him down a few pegs. With Knock Out in servo and Emmet doing all the walking the trio reached the medbay in a normal amount of time. Once there he placed Knock Out back down on the ground.

“Ah, home sweet home...in a way. Thank you, Emmet. Now unless I call you in I’m going to need you to keep watch outside. I’ll manage on my own for a bit but when I get tired of constantly having to climb things.. well you’ll be the first to know. Until then I just want you to keep watch for other officers or wounded Vehicons and tell me ahead of time alright. Also if it’s Starscream, make him go away. I don’t feel like dealing with him today. Don’t actually tell him that though because then he’ll just get angry. Tell him that I’m helping Shockwave or that there’s a contamination breach or that someone broke my scraplet hive. Your pick.”

“Ok.” Something told Emmet that he shouldn’t leave the young Doctor alone but the medic’s concerns sounded legit.

“Good. Now open the door for me.” Emmet punched in the code and the doors slid open. The Vehicon made sure to hold one of them open just in case Knock Out didn’t walk fast enough.

Inside Knock Out waited for the door to shut and once it did he leaned back against a wall and vented deeply a few times. This stress was going to short circuit him. Knock Out turned his attention to Raf. This was going to be awkward as it was, Knock Out didn’t need his usual ire to make it even more so. He had to put his minicon face on. Raf might have once been an annoying parasite who helped Bumblebee hit him with a train but now he may as well have been Rumble or Frenzy. “Hi. Rough day.” Raf stayed silent but Knock Out could feel the boy’s tears stain his already wet shirt. “I know this is bizarre but don’t make it more so by not talking to me. I am still a healer by function. Technically. It’s more of a spiritual healing but it still works.” Still nothing but more tears. “Ok. Not up for it. I understand. Can you at least tell me what hurts.”

“Everything.” It was nothing more than whisper but at least it was something.

“Ok. Getting knocked around in a subspace of a jet will do that to you. How’s your leg, does it hurt real bad?” Raf nodded and Knock Out felt the boy shudder.

“Is it broken or just cut?” Raf shuddered again and shook his head wordlessly. “Ok. Ok. Don’t panic. Let me look at it. If the fingers clutching at his shirt could have gone any tighter they would have. “I know, it’s ok though. I’ve read a few books. Let’s find you something soft to lay on.” Knock Out headed over to his back wall and tried to remember his storage plans. Nothing really came up. Not surprising that didn’t make the cut of important information. Still, he knew he had to have something. Digging through all the bottom cabinets first Knock Out found a few dozen bolts of different colored suede and large roll of upholstery foam. “You are really lucky that I was a fancy grounder and not something more utilitarian like a tank.” As he laid out a makeshift bed off in a corner for the child a part of Knock Out still chided himself for wasting supplies. He mentally told that part of him to eat slag. It wasn’t as if he would actually be using those supplies in the near or even hopefully the distant future.

Was that really his hope now? Going back to Marion and Breakdown meant condemning himself to a life of whatever the frag he was living with right now. Was that really better than just staying with the Cons till he got the new chassis they promised? Was it better than getting his true self back? Despite how much his spark screamed that it was his processor told him the opposite. He couldn’t think about it anymore. Knock Out forced his focus back to Raf. “Alright here. I put in effort to make you comfortable. Don’t spit on my hospitality by refusing my kind gesture.” Raf happily accepted the comfort of Knock Out’s makeshift bed, curling into a tight ball almost immediately as he was set down on it. “Ok. Come on. You at least have to let me check out your leg before you go and do this.” Raf looked at Knock Out wearily before burying his face in the soft fabric. Slowly he uncurled himself.

Knock Out tried to ignore his revulsion as he fiddled with the boy’s damp foul smelling jeans. He had to focus on the pain Raf was in and not the fact that humans were revolting. Rolling up the stained pant leg revealed a nasty looking wound and if civil war documentaries were anything to go by Knock Out was positive that the hard white bits sticking out of it meant that something was indeed very broken.

“Is it bad?” Raf’s weak voice pulled Knock Out from his examination and silent panicking.

“If it were any other day it would be sawed off but you caught me without them so you get to keep it.  Ah ha ha hah ha.” Knock Out’s fake laughter and teasing attitude got him nowhere. Time to take a different approach. “It’s a problem that I could fix but….not very nicely. I don’t really have pain suppressors for mechs let alone for humans and I don’t have human alcohol either. I can make a cold pack to numb it though and give you a rag to not bite your tongue off. I can also just not touch it. I don’t know if you can handle me doing this. I don’t want you going into shock.”

“It hurts really bad.” Raf was trying his best not start sobbing again but it wasn’t going so well for him. First getting hit by an energon blast and now this! What was the world’s problem with him!

“Do you want me to touch it or not. If you do we should probably get you cleaned up first. You had a couple of “accidents” while you were stuck in Soundwave didn’t you?”

“It’s not my fault!” Raf’s voice cracked painfully. Knock Out’s sudden care and knowledge about humans was making this whole thing embarrassing as hell! He really wished the Con would go back to being mean like Raf knew he eventually would.

“I never said it was your fault. Humans are just disgusting, that’s how they respond to trauma. Cybertronians also lose control of their systems sometimes. I can’t remember how many mechs have purged or leaked on me but I’m sure the answer is too many. Do you want me to clean you up or do you want to putrefy in your own filth? I’m not going to judge you.”

Raf really wanted to get clean but it would be too embarrassing! “These are my only clothes. I would have to go back into dirty clothes. So there’s no point!” This was so weird. Raf wished he was just stuck in Soundwave again. Then at least he could be miserable in peace.

“I’ll give you my clothes. I have two layers of clothes on for no reason other than for climate. They’ll be big but at least they’re mostly clean.” Raf went quiet again. There was little Knock Out was willing to do without the boys permission so he just waited in silence for Raf to decide.

“Knock Out?”

“What?”

“You’re just going to give me right back to Megatron and Soundwave once you’re done with whatever you’re trying to do aren’t you?  So can’t you just leave me here with the guard? I don’t want to go back. I won’t leave! You know I can’t so just tell them!”

Knock Out sighed and went to go collect supplies and set things up. The boy wasn’t responding to the gentle touch so the medic was just going to do what was best. Using what he had Knock Out drew up a soapy bath in the back lab sink and preemptively cut up some rags to make into a cold pack and bandages. Hopefully, it would be good enough. At least Knock Out knew it wasn’t going to kill the child. Jumping down he returned to Raf. As Knock Out reached down to pick Raf up the boy shoved him away angrily. Not like it did much with how weary the boy was. Knock Out still gave him his space none the less.

“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE KNOCK OUT! Stop pretending to be nice!”

“Now that’s rude. I’m not pretending to be nice. It’s a medic’s job to take care of everyone. Even prisoners and hostages. I’m just trying to fix you the best way I know how. I don’t know what else you want me to say, Raf. I can’t just leave you here they’re not going to let that fly no matter what I say and I can’t say I won’t give you back even though I don’t want to. I have an escape plan but that’s for me. You’re more than welcome to be apart of it but knowing you I was sure you would rather wait for your precious Autobots to save you. I don’t think the Autobots can even get a ped near the Citadel though. I don’t think they’re coming anytime soon. Still, you’re more than welcome to wait. I may be willing to help and comfort you Raf but Primus knows there will be no mark on my spark if I leave and you die waiting here for Bumblebee. The other Cons won’t care if you die before he gets here. Autobots are sentimental. Your corpse will be just as much of a draw.”

Raf lied. He really wanted Knock Out to go back to being nice. “How do plan on getting out of here?”

“Let’s get you fixed up first alright?”

“Alright.” After an awkward, stress inducing but appreciated bath the animosity coming from the child ebbed to weary content. After the terrifyingly painful bone setting, however, Raf fainted. Despite Knock Out’s best efforts. It was for the best really. With the boy unconscious, Knock Out was able to sew him up with upholstery thread and disinfect the wound with no screaming. Afterwards, Knock Out dressed the wound in the torn up rags and dressed Raf in his flannel and jeans and left the boy to sleep on the makeshift bed.

Sitting in a damp but cleaned t-shirt and boxers Knock Out set to work scaling down an electro staff into something more manageable. Reworking the conductors and the energon supplier to be so small had been complicated but in the end he had a new human sized staff. Not the most inconspicuous thing but it would do. At least it was easy to refuel and with the attached strap he could sling it over his back.

It was a bit surprising that Lord Megatron allotted him so much time to fix the young boy up. Perhaps something important had kept him busy, Knock Out didn’t care. Stretching to realign some wires Knock Out yawned. A natural human response that had been programmed into the frames coding to help with "realism". There were no windows to the outside to tell if it was late but considering he had developed a recharge schedule during his time with Marion and Breakdown Knock Out assumed it was. Beneath him, Raf whimpered and shivered, the clothes not enough to keep him warm. Knock Out jumped down and cut off another long piece of suede and threw it over Raf. He then balled up the rest and threw it on the floor to rest on himself. If things kept going this well, they would be out of here by tomorrow. That meant that something was going to go wrong.

* * *

 

In the wreck of the Harbinger, the Autobots sat and spouted off plans. No one could make up their processors on what was right and it had already been two cycles! Who knew what could happen in two cycles! Bee wasn’t certain but he could take a few wild guesses and none of them were good. If Optimus had been here this nonsense would be done but Ultra Magnus had to try out a billion different scenarios! Raf could be dead already but did Ultra Magnus care? No! Bumblebee was all for the safety of the team but Raf was part of the team! It got to the point where he couldn’t listen anymore. Luckily Breakdown and Marion had given up a long time ago as well. Well, Marion was mostly hiding from Agent Fowler. Still, Bee made his way over to them and slumped down in annoyance to try to chat.

“Can you believe this? They’ll be at it for the next century if we’re lucky! I’m really sorry Breakdown I’m sure you’re just as nervous about Knock Out as I am about Raf.” Bee honestly didn’t believe that since Knock Out was a Con and also like some sort of important Cybertronian relic so he doubted the Cons would treat Knock Out badly but still it was for sentiments sake.

Marion and Breakdown stopped their hushed discussion and Breakdown gave Bee a weak smile. “Sorry about your friend kid. I really am. I’m just always a screw-up when the Doc isn’t around. I just panic when someone's not around to yell at me.”

Bee tittered wordlessly in a show of acceptance. “It’s alright Breakdown. There wasn’t much you could do. I mean it was Soundwave right. Dude’s crazy, there was no way a mech your size was going to beat him. Primus even a mech my size couldn’t hope to take him out. He is still an ex-gladiator like Megatron. I’m sure you tried your best.”

“I don’t think I did but I never do. Any update on the council?”

“Still split but they’re getting close. What’s Marion doing with the computer?”

“Trying to see if the the Citadel is literally a mirror to the one on Cybertron.”

“We already checked that it’s the same.”

“In appearance but maybe not in programming. Knock Out wasn’t with the Cons when they built the Citadel in Jasper so it might not have some very important programming.”

“What could it be missing that’s so important?”

“The kill code.”

“Kill code? Who puts a kill code in a building? That’s for like sleeper agents and berserkers!”

“It’s quarantine command 193. The quarantine programming was instilled in most spaces on Cybertron after disease and parasite warfare became a thing. Mainly to keep scraplet victims from running out when they were infested without knowing it but it got a bump during the liquid rust era. The oil would seep into the metal so no matter if the victim didn’t show symptoms thanks to galvanizing if they touched someone else without protection they would spread the oil and the rust to them. Command 193 was invented after the T.A.R epidemic. A microscopic fungus that was cultivated by techno organics. They would inject it into energon stores where it would grow and as soon as that fuel was taken in by mechs it would start taking over. It would literally melt mechs from the inside out turning their insides into black goo that smelled like tar.  
The worst thing was it was pretty much incurable and some victims didn’t show signs until it was too late but they were still letting off spores and infecting others. Command code 193 is a death sentence to everyone in the building. Ensuring death to every infected mech in less than two klicks. Only one mech has ever survived a quarantine command 193 and you can probably guess who it was.”

“Knock Out? What happened?"

"T.A.R. The lead medic running the place didn’t call in the code after the first victims died. They were convinced they could find a cure but then all the medics got infected. Knock Out was sent to the place to aid what he was told was a rust outbreak. He was only in the place for two cycles before he figured out he had been lied to. By then he was already infected. In the middle of the night, he called in the code and jumped out a window with a few necessary supplies. He gave himself an acid bath and after draining most of his energon he injected some concoction he made into his lines. When he finally called me and the other Stunticons he was half past dead. He made it through with a clean bill of health but we had to replace a ton of stuff and he was never the same. The Doc might have been pretty on the outside but on the inside, he was a mess ever since. That was how we got in with Lockdown. Whenever the Doc needed something new Lockdown was there for us. The Doc’s chassis was failing again even before the fall. That’s why it turned to scrap so fast. Without constant maintenance, his frame just deteriorated.”

“Oh. Well than maybe the fall was a good thing. Now he has a new not crappy chassis. Even if it is human. Are you really planning to kill every Con in the Citadel? How are you even going to activate the command?”

“ If I let the Cons live they are going to come after Knock Out again! We have to. As for a plan, it’s easy. I’m tiny and I know how to get around any Vehicon. I can sneak in through any gap I need to and find Knock Out. If he’s in a tight spot then we have our shortwave communicators. I can relay him the plan. He creates a diversion and we meet up. We find a suitable close exit and he calls in the code. You won’t like this but Raf might have to wait, but if we can save him I promise we will. If we can’t the quarantine won’t kill him it just might make him sick for a day or two. After twenty minutes the building will unlock and you can go in and get your kid. It’s that simple.”

Bee didn’t like any plan where Raf got hurt or sick but the idea of ending such a huge problem in one fell swoop like that was amazing. Just one mission and the Decepticons could be gone. Megatron could be gone. No Optimus Prime required. Still, it was iffy; aerials were fast. They might get away in less than two klicks. Knock Out had escaped and he was a grounder. Not to mention if even one Con was out of the Citadel the plan wouldn’t work. There were a ton of holes but it was still a good plan. “So are they the same?”

“I don’t know yet. Marion, you get anything?”

Marion looked up from her computer sullenly. “Sorry boys. Nothing yet. Even with my cloaked tech these firewalls are still horrendous.”

“Sorry Bumblebee. As soon as we get something I’ll tell you.”

“Alright. I’m guessing you don’t want me bringing your little secret over to the big table.”

“Don’t think Ultra Magnus would really approve but I got no business with regulations. These used to be my comrades and they hung me out to dry on more than one occasion. I’m just returning the favor.”

“I’m won’t stop you if you think you can make it happen. Primus if you do I think Ultra Magnus might even pardon you and Knock Out himself.”

“No, he won’t. He doesn't give a frag about no mech. He’s a mech of the cause. Once you betray that cause you may as well be dead. I don’t really care though. Your Doc gave me his word that they would leave us alone till all was ready and done. This mission aint for anyone but me and my light. I’m gonna kill those slaggers for using us! I’m going to show them what they get when they try to tear apart destiny.”


	7. Looking Through Cracks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. This is as always unbettaed.

Knock Out awoke to Raf’s wailing. “What is it now? Why are you humans so weak!” Knock Out knew the boy was likely in serious pain but he really didn’t want to encourage screaming. Still, he quickly pushed himself up and made his way over to the boy. Raf wasn’t exactly awake though. He was having some sort of episode, a night terror perhaps? His optics were open but glassy as he clawed at his face and screamed his throat sore. Knock Out sat down and pulled the boy onto his lap carefully minding his broken leg, grabbing at Raf’s thin wrists to keep his servos away from his face. Eventually, Raf came to his senses, his servos clawing to cling to Knock Out instead of fighting him. Tears continued flood Raf’s vision but the mech’s shirt quickly absorbed them as Raf tried to press himself as firmly as he could against Knock Out’s frame. Raf’s frame shook as he continued to sob and gasp. Knock Out did his best to comfort the boy.

He stood and walked around the med bay as he ran his talons through the boy’s hair and attempted to hush him soothingly. Raf seemed to settle but only for a second before entering another panic attack. His breath going quick and ragged as he clung tighter. Suddenly he started mumbling and Knock Out could feel his heartbeat quicken.

“Knock Out….. I don’t want to die.” Well, that was out of nowhere. Raf sounded terrified as is Megatron was outside the door calling for his head at that very moment.

“I told you I have a plan and I would bring you along if you wanted. The only way you might die is if you stay here after I leave.”

“That won’t stop me from dying.” Raf shivered as he breathed out the words in a whisper. The words made Knock Out’s spark dim. He had heard them plenty of times from desperate patients, broken soldiers, Breakdown, in his own head. This child was like ten he shouldn’t be freaking out like he had been fighting in a million year war! Knock Out pulled him tighter.

“That’s umm..that’s one Pit of a thought. I think you’ve been hanging around Ratchet too much.”

“I don’t want to be forgotten.” Knock Out didn’t know what to do with the child. Clearly, his problems went deeper than just his current situation. “Can you tell me what the Well is like?” Where was all this coming from?

“Well, I can’t really give you a first servo account. I didn’t actually die. All the stories and art make it out to be some lovely paradise where one can find anyone they’ve lost. I find that angle hard to believe because if every spark ever is down there then it can’t possibly be a paradise. Some mechs just don’t change you see.”

“So you think it’s bad?” Raf’s voice cracked and Knock Out could feel the tears flow again. Why was this child acting as if his dreams were crushed? “Ratchet doesn’t believe in it either.”

“I don’t think it’s bad and I do believe that it’s real I just have a much more scientific view of it you see. Our planet is supposed to be another mech like ourselves. We come from them and the other great gods and Primes and whatnot. Some mechs like to take it personally but to me, it’s just an algorithm. Sparks are in themselves one part energy source and one part backup file. When the spark returns to the hub that is the Well their data is entered and stored. Since our planet is supposedly sentient to a degree sometimes they can choose to send a data file as a whole, as it once was back out to the world to be resparked. That’s how we get mechs like Optimus or even Megatron, although he’s not exactly the same he’s just very close where Prime is supposed to be a direct duplicate.”

“So no one is lost?”

Knock Out mulled over his response. Clearly, the child wanted a reassuring yet slightly delusional response. That had never been his style though. Still, he tried to at least slightly soften the dark reality. “I think some mechs could be lost. Our planet has been dead for so long. No way to collect the data, wayward sparks can’t last forever despite what poetry thinks. It just doesn’t make sense scientifically. Still, sparks are strong even after they’ve disconnected from their frames. Starscream is a great example. So I think it’s few and far in between.” The medic’s honesty at least didn’t cause the child any more harm than it did good.

“Do you think humans could be saved like that? Reborn?”

“With the right technology, I don’t see why not.” Raf’s heart rate had returned to normal but he still seemed on edge. “I’m sure I could figure it out in an hour or so. Would you like to offer yourself up to be my first test subject?” Knock Out tried to make himself sound as serious as he was joking. The boy laughed nervously and shivered.

“No.”

“Well then don’t go proposing hypotheses you’re not ready to test. Come see me in ten years, till then try not to worry. I may not believe that every life is equal but I do believe that every life deserves to be lived to it’s fullest and no matter how short it is it’s important in some way. You are important, you’ve already proved that. You will continue to be important to someone and you will be remembered. We may seem like titans to humans but even we still mourn when our loved ones have been taken a million years too soon. It’s all perspective. We always want more time with the people we love, to achieve things, to make ourselves something, to be remembered. Sentience is a curse in a way because once we know we are alive we can’t fathom to see ourselves as anything else. I mean look at me. I can’t fathom to see myself as anything other than perfect let alone dead. You’re not alone in your feelings Raf.”

Raf’s lungs rattled as he sighed. He wrapped his arms around Knock Out’s neck to give the mech the closest thing to a hug he could manage. “I’m just afraid of being alone again. Bee, Miko, and Jack are my only friends and I know that won’t stay in my life forever. Miko will go back to Japan, Jack will go to college and forget I ever existed and Bee and the bots...they might die. Even they do manage to win the war they won’t stay on earth. I’ll probably never see them again.”

“Sometimes that happens and I can understand why that worries you but it’s normal. I can’t promise you the future but if somehow this all works out if lives get to progress it’s you who makes it better Raf. If the people you care about have to move on, even if that means moving away from you then you have to realize some things can’t be helped. Friendship and caring are required from both ends and if they do move past you, it’s not wise to be bitter after a period of time. The time you had with them was fun. The memories you made were important and so you use them to make new ones. Earth is so small. All it takes is for you to drive to a bigger city, a different landmass and you can meet a number of different people that you could befriend and make new memories with. It can be hard to put ourselves out there, to trust others, but we do what we can because we must because if we don’t we end up like this. Sad, depressed, contemplating mortality. It’s not good for young beings like us.”

Raf laughed again breathing deeply a few times after before sighing heavily and settling himself on Knock Out. All the tension in his frame gone with his panic. Raf didn’t feel perfectly calm yet but he was getting there. “Thanks, Knock Out.”

“Mmh. Don’t go telling your precious Autobots, they’ll take credit for changing my spark with their mushy nonsense. Those words are nice because I made them sound that way but my morals can serve me to be very dark as well. Never forget that.”

“Ok.” Knock Out let the boy continue to cling till he returned to his usual self. Exhaustion settling over fear. “Knock Out when are we going to escape?”

“My plan was contingent on that Vehicon coming back to get us. I didn’t think we’d get so much time to be honest. Let me check something.” Knock Out picked up a random ball of scrap metal and lobbed it at the door sensor. The doors opened revealing an empty hallway. “See this is why I don’t trust Vehicons.” He took a quick look out in the hall. Not even the distant sounds of off-duty drones marred the silence. “Well, that’s weird.” Knock Out stepped back and let the door shut itself. “It’s not best to question these things. Besides more time means I can actually work in my lab and that means I can furnish myself some sort of additional battery pack. I know this might seem like wasting an opportunity to escape but we really do need a Vehicon so do you think you’ll last? Nothing too painful going on?”

“I feel sick and it hurts but-mmhm….there’s nothing you can really do about that right?”

“As soon as we get out of here we’ll fix that. Till then stay strong.” Knock Out set Raf back down on his bed and rummaged around the med bay looking for supplies. Raf watched him work, trying to focus on anything that wasn’t the throbbing pain in his leg. He wondered what the Con had planned. Knock Out never really seemed like the type to have everything figured out. Perhaps one or two steps but after that, he seemed to wing things. That made Raf nervous.

As Knock Out jumped down triumphantly with his new creation the room suddenly shook. He quickly peeled his face from the floor and shoved the new battery pack into his neck. The rest of the bit that he had designed to look like jewelry magnetically clung to his frame. He quickly connected the locking mechanism and grabbed at Raf. “Alright that’s our cue, let’s go!” As he ran back to grab his staff there was the sudden cacophonous pounding of peds outside in the hall and then the doors hissed open. A bright silver aerial drone stepped in.

“Commander Knock Out the Citadel is under attack I was instructed to protect you and the hostage. Please allow me to do that.”

“You’re not Allen! What happened to Allen?”

“Emmet.” Knock Out looked down at Raf for a moment to give the boy a silencing look.

“Whatever! Emmet! He’s supposed to be protecting me.” The other Eradicon looked confused for a moment but quickly got over it.

“That doesn’t matter I am in charge of your protection now. Please, Commander, come with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

* * *

 

It had taken them forever but they had finally come to a consensus. They were finally gearing up. Breakdown was psyching himself up in a corner with Marion. She was going to stay behind and help Ratchet and the kids. They hadn’t found the data they needed but that wasn’t going to change his plan. Suddenly he felt heavy peds behind him. Ultra Magnus’ booming voice made his frame rattle. “Breakdown we need to speak in private.”

“Aint really got anything to say to you. You should be pumping up your team since this is practically a suicide mission and four of us know that.”

“Hey!” Marion looked up from her computer and glared at the mech.

“Sorry five. But your life really isn’t at risk here.”

“I don’t think it will be but we must be prepared for failure. I overheard you speaking with Bumblebee-”

“Ah SLAG!”

“Indeed. Your plan was to call the code with all of us inside the Citadel wasn’t it?”

“I was thinking about it yeah. Seemed like a good idea to me. Good Wrecker plan. Casualties of war are necessary as Springer would say.”

“I am not Springer and you will not let Knock Out call in the code….unless I order you to.”

“How are you going to stop me when you’re dead?”

“I won’t be able to but since Wheeljack and Bulkhead are going to be staying outside Dark Mount I have instructed them to execute you if the quarantine goes off without my command. According to Ratchet Knock Out is a vital element to creating a new home for them if Cybertron is truly lost to us forever. You, however, are nothing. Expendable.”

“EXCUSE ME MR. MAGNUS I AM RIGHT HERE AND-” Breakdown waved Marion down.

“Don’t worry Marion I’ll play nice.” Breakdown laughed under his breath. It was clear that the Autobot second in command knew nothing about the Doc. “Fine. Whatever you want but it’s on your head if Megatron gets out of this fight alive. You’re ruinin’ a perfect plan. ”

“I beg to disagree but I won’t because we have no time to lose. Also, you will be riding with Arcee so it would be unwise to kill off your only mode of transport.”

“I got legs.”

“I doubt those will be fast enough to save you from anything.”

“Ain’t no winning so no use arguing with a hot heap of slag.” Breakdown took the guns Marion handed off to him and went to meet up with Arcee leaving Ultra Magnus alone with the human.

He cleared his throat as he looked down at her, now visibly angry but still working away on her computer. That had gone too smoothly. Magnus felt as if he was missing something, something that would lead to complications. “What are you doing Miss?”

“I am playing Minesweeper and grading my student’s reports.”

“As a teacher don’t you think it is a tad rude to not give your student’s work your utmost attention?”

She glared up at him her stare piercing. Letting him know with no words that he had no right to judge. “Considering I am a robotics professor and in a hurry and a panic I gave them homework to write me a twenty page creative sci-fi story that contained robots and the only condition was that they had to us accurate jargon and science of today and make it sound fun and believable I don’t really think so.” Ultra Magnus stalled. He didn’t know what being a robotics instructor entailed but to him, it sounded a bit like playing a mad scientist trying to create life in a lab. So he wasn’t quite sure if that was an appropriate assignment that deserved her respect or not. He was going to assume from her blase attitude that it wasn’t. Which left him with nothing to say.

“I’m sure that’s a fulfilling profession. You should go over and sit with Ratchet and the other children, however. We will be starting the plan and Ratchet has humbly requested your computer prowess.” Marion nodded and was closing her laptop when her phone rang. She reached in her back pocket to get it. “Do not answer that!”

“Why? The Cons don’t care about me and my frequencies are so encrypted the president couldn’t even find me.” Magnus hated talking to mechs about technology, humans even more so. “Listen it’s Mrs. Tannis she’s taking care of my pet for me so I need to answer this.” Marion didn’t give the Autobot de facto leader time to respond before answering her phone. Magnus listened in, his frame steeled the longer she was on. Ratchet remained calm, no Con response. Perhaps the woman could prove useful if she had such powerful technology. “Yes, Lynda I know. Don’t worry about what he’s saying it’s not demonic I promise. It’s Korean. Oh, you speak Korean. Well, why didn’t you tell me it would have been nice to have someone to speak to? I haven’t really had anyone to talk to since my father died. Yes, I suppose it’s good not to assume. Listen it’s probably just machine noise then. You know my work and how weird parrots are. They pick up the strangest things. Mhmm. Alright well, I need to go. Someone else wants my attention so give Starscream my love.” She looked up at Magnus smug. “See short and simple.”

Magnus looked angry. “Miss. Kim. Please tell me you are not harboring another Con placed inside one of your human frames! Especially not one as dangerous as Starscream! I will not allow it!”

“Starscream is my pet parrot. Breakdown named him, a bit of humor you know.”

“Yes...of course.” Magnus had trouble believing her.

“Would you like to see him?” Marion finished closing her things and had gathered them up to head over to Ratchet. With everything secure, she searched around in her phone for a video to show Ultra Magnus. She played the video before handing it off.

Magnus gingerly took the device to view the impossibly tiny screen. On it played a scene of a gray animal screeching as it tore up something happily. Magnus gave the woman back her phone, a faint smile on face. “I would refrain from naming your pets after intergalactic criminals.”

“Intergalactic? Wow. How many planets has your war destroyed?” Magnus didn’t respond but his silence spoke volumes. She let it go and went over to sit with the other humans. Ultra Magnus sighed, happy to be free of her.

With everyone ready, the team set off. Ultra Magnus watched them go. He could only hope things would go smoothly. Luckily the human bit did. Magnus watched as the Decepticon’s forces were divided among the map.

“Alright, I’ll be going. Ratchet I wish to discuss what you should do if we fail.”

Ratchet looked up from the computer with dim optics. “Must we? I am more than capable of figuring out my own plans should that happen.”

“Just...go with the humans. Keep safe Doctor.”Ratchet nodded solemnly. He had just picked himself out of his depression he didn’t want to slip back into it. Ultra Magnus took one last look around the confines of the Harbinger before leaving for his ship.

* * *

 

The attack was a failure from the beginning. Breakdown didn’t know how he knew but he liked to think it was the little bit of common sense he gained while being Knock Out’s partner. The medic knew a lost cause when he saw one. That didn’t change much for Breakdown though. He didn’t care if the Autobots lived or died as long as he got Knock Out out of Megatron’s greasy servos.

Crossing the battlefield was almost impossible though. Breakdown couldn’t bring himself to take down any of the Vehicons but shooting them in the peds till they went down was taxing his ammo. It also left a lot of grabbing servos trying to be heroes for Megatron’s favor. They ended up dead anyway so there was no point to his mercy except his own selfishness. The drones came in droves and as much as the Bots fought they seemed to only multiply.

Breakdown wasn’t willing to stand around and shoot for much longer, he was small, the Vehicons wouldn’t notice him. He reloaded his gun and took off. He heard Arcee shriek at him but gave it little mind. It was farther than he thought however and his system was overheating in seconds. Marion was a great engineer but her androids were built to be glorified pretty centerpieces, not soldiers.

As he sprinted across the dusty landscape and weaved between the laser fire he could feel the taut plinking of the wires in his legs reaching their limits again and again. What fans he had kicked on immediately but did almost nothing thanks to the dust that was being kicked up. He had to take a break behind a downed Vehicon at some point, the mech’s optics still cycling wildly as his spark tried to hold on. He couldn’t help but run a gentle servo over the torn faceplate. Without Knock Out the clones would have no one but themselves. Knock Out may have been cruel but he still did his job in the end. Without the medic, they would die on the field like the scrap they were made from.

He couldn’t leave Knock Out here. He couldn’t live without him now that he knew what they could have together. “I’m sorry.” The dying Vehicon didn’t respond but Breakdown wanted to believe he twitched in understanding somehow. He had to move on.

Breakdown underestimated exactly how small he was compared to former self. Darkmount was a huge fortress by Cybertronian standards but to humans it was titanic. Like a place for gods. The only upside was it was easy to climb. The downside climbing had never been his forte. Knock Out could climb a building like a wireviper and Breakdown had always been jealous of his partner's skill but he always worried about….well everything so he couldn’t help being bad at something that required a lot of snap judgments and quick reflexes. The buildings of Cybertron were peeling and rusted. Any hold could be death to a heavyweight like himself. The Citadel had no problems though and he was no longer the tank he used to be but now he had to contend with the wind.

The wind was terrifyingly strong and Breakdown hadn’t thought his frame flimsy till he looked down at the ground below. There were cons to working alone. Having no backup was the most obvious one. He felt the wind push at him, his digits straining to hold on as he climbed higher. He was so close to a window. So. Very. Close. Yet so far away. Determination and the guilt of losing the human boy pushed him up despite his swaying legs and dust filled lungs. He took another break on a secure ledge. Clinging for his life he coughed violently and retched up black spittle. He regretted asking for tastebuds at that moment. Was being able to taste energon really all that important? Breakdown didn’t have more time to berate himself as one of Wheeljack’s grenades shook the tower. Breakdown slipped and frantically clawed for a new foothold to wait out the tremors.

With twitching digits and labored breathing, Breakdown regained what progress he had lost and forced himself to climb higher until he reached an entrance. An output vent. After a bit of relying on his namesake, he managed to get rid of the grate covering the vent. Getting through the vents was easier than he could have imagined but he came out in a hallway. Nothing distinct at all. The empty hall did ease his nerves though. After landing hard on the floor Breakdown took a moment to turn on his communicator. If Knock Out was in the area it would go all staticky. Now all that was left was where to go. Medbay was his first thought but that was all the way on the dock and Breakdown didn’t know if they would be stupid enough to leave Knock Out alone. He could have been with Starscream as the second in command was the only other mech Knock Out could stand. If he was with Megatron or being kept like a relic in stasis or in a holding cell he might never find him. Breakdown wouldn’t put it past Megatron to just keep Knock Out locked up unconscious as if he were just another relic.

He couldn’t just stand there he had to make a choice so he picked Starscream. It made the most sense and even if Knock Out wasn’t with him he might still get some help. Finding anyone in the Citadel was easier said than done though. Dark Mount was huge and pretty much empty. His memories were also coming up empty. Just flashes of Cybertron and burning metal. It made him sick to look back. He had already gained so many human memories that they were starting to override what few cybertronian ones he had. Breakdown honestly didn’t care. All of his memories were still safe on Marion’s computer so if he ever did want to remember he could. He often didn’t though. He was fine with just knowing his life was terrible before. Knock Out the only good thing. The only thing he wanted to hold on to from his past. He had to curse himself at times like this though. He had spent so much time studying Dark Mount for the Wreckers he shouldn’t be this lost!

He was lost though. He was lost. Nothing was even close to familiar and he was all alone and at the worst kind of disadvantage. He felt his head pulse and his spark crackle. He was starting to panic. He couldn’t. He just had to keep running. He’d find something eventually. Easier said than done.

The halls flew by as if nothing he did mattered. How many wrong turns had he taken? How many dead ends had he ended up in only to have to run all the way back? The walls started to close in as he heaved and panted. He was going to be stuck in the stupid tower forever! He was going to get captured by Dreadwing or Soundwave or Megatron! They were going to blame him for everything! They were going to tear him apart all over again. He was never going to see Knock Out. Who did he think he was?

“G-. Ht. My plan! Swh- Die!” Breakdown would know that ranting anywhere! He quickly ran his servos down his face as his spark calmed. The static meant he had to be close. He should say something! He needed to say something!  
“KNOCK OUT! Doc speak to me! I’m here to save you!” Breakdown screamed as he ran trying to get another hint of the other mechs signal but all he got was static in both directions. Human tech had issues in Dark Mount maybe their communicators just weren’t strong enough. Knock Out also had the nasty habit of turning his audials off. As a mech who had been mostly deaf thanks to cannon fire and physical assault Knock Out despised the sensory overload afflicted him thanks to his new working audials. Just one more thing working against him. The louder he screamed trying to get Knock Out’s attention the more likely one of the other Cons was going to overhear him! He needed to find a window.

For once that was easy. He had passed dozens of them in his haste. As he neared on the tall glass covered openings the metal beneath him shook and the entire row of windows shattered. Breakdown dove into a roll as bits of glass nicked his skin. Some of the larger bits even stuck in deep causing him to hiss and swear. He didn’t know how high up in the Citadel he was but he still cursed Wheeljack’s ridiculous aim. So close to the outside though the static started up again. The words he could make out were more garbled but he got the only two he needed. Escape pods. Knock Out was alone or with Starscream and he was trying to make his own escape attempt. Breakdown had to get there before he made it. He had to get to the Nemesis.

It was far. Too far, and the higher levels of Darkmount were heavily crowded with drones just taking orders. It was better than the mindless empty corridors beneath. He even ran past Arcee and Bumblebee at some point. They didn’t notice him till he was already gone. When he finally reached the elevator he had to cleverly throw himself at the access panel. Took some time and he got a few dents that looked weird under his skin but the sound of the doors hissing open almost made him cry. As he got in and smacked the button for the highest floor he could reach he took a moment to pat himself on the back. This was going to work! All he had to do was get close and then he could scream till his vocalizer shorted to get Knock Out’s attention. None of the officers would be on the ship and if any Vehicon found him he could easily get away and maybe even get some help. Then he turned around and an ice cold dread washed over him. Soundwave was staring right at him. He quirked his head and as soon as Breakdown lunged for the door controls again he ran. Breakdown tried not to scream as the spy closed the distance between them in flashes and bounds. Even as the door’s closed around him and the lift shot up he waited for the abrupt halt. As expected Breakdown felt the surge of electricity as Soundwave connected to the mechanics. The lights flickered and went dark and then everything stalled to a halt.

“No no no no no NO NO NO NO NO! I’M SO FRAGGING CLOSE!” He wasn’t by a longshot but he at least felt that he was. The lift suddenly lurched down. Soundwave was dragging it down by force. Panic set in again but this time it served to his advantage. He easily spotted the emergency hatch. “Gah! MORE CLIMBING!” It was a sour task but it would be his only way out. Breakdown fumbled with his gun but after a few stray shots, he managed to make a few decent holes to grab onto. Scaling up halfway only to jump down again to shoot the grate covering the emergency exit open. “COME ON GET IT TOGETHER BREAKDOWN!”

He swore as he climbed, his wrists throbbing as he pulled himself up. His internals screaming at him that he was already under thirty percent. If he dropped below ten he risked shorting out and going dark. That couldn’t happen. He threw himself up onto the ledge as the door squealed in protest as Soundwave tried to breach it. Breakdown had to laugh as he imagined the spy’s expression. He must not have been fully integrated into Dark Mounts systems yet. Had to do things the hard way. By the time Soundwave got in the lift was empty.

Soundwave seethed a bit silently. He was exhausted and just as disappointed as the others at losing their chance to go home. Everything he had strained himself to get done had been for nothing! All thanks to the Autobots. All thanks to their pride and their twisted morals! It made him falter. His pain made him selfish. Sure he could have followed the dumb human through the elevator shaft and risk getting shot at in the tight space but he knew that the human wanted and he knew where it was.

As Breakdown reached the Nemesis his legs were numb. The warnings of fuel gauge blaring in his processor. He was wasting too much fuel too fast! Still, he was there! The static in his receiver had stopped though. Breakdown screamed as loud as he felt he could risk it but Knock Out didn’t respond. As he ran for the escape pods he passed the medbay Outside the door was Soundwave standing over a pile of unconscious drones. All fliers. “He’s looking to hijack a grounder.” Breakdown’s spark warmed and he smiled at his lover’s ingenious but it faded to terror as Soundwave turned like lightning and was stalking forward towards him; feelers reaching.

Breakdown ran for the pods. Even if Knock Out had already escaped he knew what he was looking for now! As he reached the row of emergency deploys something stopped him from getting into one himself. The kid. Knock Out was selfish that was undeniable if the kid didn’t fit into his plan the kid didn’t matter but he kind of did to Breakdown. Something else too. Breakdown spared another panning glance before turning to face Soundwave. None of the pods had been deployed. Breakdown raised his gun and stared down the jet. “What did you do with Kn- the kid you disgusting fuck!” Sound human Breakdown. Don’t let them know how much you know. Don’t be stupid like usual. Don’t give yourself away!

Soundwave didn’t answer just advanced. Breakdown needed to get away. Knock Out was likely still in the medbay! He had to get back. He could risk running past Soundwave but the mech was quick. As soon as he had his back turned he was at a disadvantage. He had to be offensive. Luckily being a medic’s assistant had its perks. Breakdown fired and luckily he caught the mech by surprise. Soundwave hadn’t been expecting such firepower from a human gun. The shot hit right where Breakdown wanted it and Laserbeak’s frightened shrieking was like music to Breakdown’s audials. As the spy’s symbiote to disengage and fly away leaving it open for another shot. “Sorry birdie” Another shot to Laserbeak’s optic plate had her screeching in pain as she fell to the floor. Breakdown had been banking on Soundwave’s concern for his symbiote to get past the quicker mech but he hadn’t been expecting the spy’s anger. He was only in Soundwave’s grip for a second before he was thrown against the wall. Breakdown was out on contact.

* * *

 

With Breakdown out he didn’t receive Ultra Magnus’ message to call in the quarantine. Lucky he didn’t though, the Bots hadn’t been expecting Optimus showing up to save the day.

* * *

 

Breakdown was awoken by Marion forcing a beaker of energon to his lips. Her optics wide with worry as she whispered nervously in Korean. He quickly guzzled the fuel down pulling her close when she lunged at him for a hug. “I thought you were fried!”

“Nah. Only thing killed was my pride.”

“Don’t be silly. From the looks of you, you must have fought valiantly enough.”

“Sure maybe but this half-wit hero ended up with empty servos.”

“You didn’t even see them?”

“I heard him for two seconds and then he was gone.”

“You’re alive. It’s still an ok day. We’ll find them.”

Breakdown nodded at her dismissively as he pulled the charging cord from his neck. Getting a good look around as he stood he noticed that they were definitely not in the Harbinger. He also couldn’t ignore Optimus Prime looming in a corner trying to console Bumblebee. “Where are we?”

Marion clung to his side as she glared around the room. “Some government base.

“You doin’ alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“Alright. Then what about him?” Breakdown pointed up to Optimus. “He’s supposed to be dead but he’s looking better than ever to me.”

“Apparently there was some magic hammer.” Breakdown nodded.

“The Forge.”

“Oh. Why is it a hammer then? A forge is a place.”

“Yeah but you forge stuff with a hammer.”

“Yes alright.”

Her bitter acceptance reminded Breakdown so much of Knock Out. Primus, he was being a fool. The escape pods had been a plan and plans change and sometimes delayed. There could still be a chance they both got out. He wanted to believe they both got out. Either way, he was going to lie, he had to go cheer the young scout up. He slipped his arm from around Marion and walked over. “Hey! Scout! Get those wipers working.” Both Bee and Optimus both turned to reply but stopped short when they had to look down to Breakdown.

“You’re back online. Breakdown what happened?” Bee beeped quickly his processor going a mile a millisecond. Breakdown shrugged under Optimus glare though suddenly nervous. The leader obviously wanting some sort of explanation as well.

“Not much. Couldn’t get around the place very well with my memory. When I did get a hint of Knock Out it was nothing but static.  Then I got noticed by Soundwave. The slagger. He knocked me out. Good news is I still think Knock Out and your kid got away. Doc had a plan to hijack a Vehicon to get away. He wasn’t anywhere I could find him so I’m going to believe he got away for a bit.”

“If he has Raf then where would he go? How far could he get? How long will a Vehicon put up with him?”

“Wish I knew but uh...best bet is to keep an optic on the harbinger. He might go there.”

* * *

 

Before Optimus was flying in to save the day Knock Out was already on the road. His false skin crawling as he worked the wheel of another mech. Luckily Axel was being a good sport. He hadn’t even bothered to pop back online so Knock Out was almost able to pretend it was just some dumb earth vehicle he was driving. The sparks coming from his exposed wiring were certainly not helping though. Plans were plans though and Knock Out blew past signs and tolls looking for the only ones that mattered despite his own pain.

“I’m sorry about your arm Knock Out. Are you going to be able to fix that up?” Raf was crying again as quietly as he could but still crying. Knock Out had left the young boy in silence for too long since saving him from the overachiever aerial drone and with nothing to stare at but the bleary road and Knock Out’s resting bitch face it was really no surprise the boy was freaking out.

Knock Out looked over the sparking socket where his arm had once been for a bit before responding. Was he angry? Yes? Was it Raf's fault? Yes. Was there anything the boy could have done to prevent such a travesty? No. So there was no point in being mad. “I’m fine. I’m not going to throw you out of Axel in a fit of rage or anything. I’m just cooling down. I rarely fought that hard in my Cybertronian frame so I’m still a little on edge myself.”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! It was dumb you told me not to move but I thought you didn’t know he was there! I thought he was going to crush you!”

“It’s not the first time I’ve had to rip my own arm off ok? Usually I just always got it back and I don’t know if I can do anything with one arm but I am going to try. I just need you to be quiet though because I need some silence." Raf grew quiet but all Knock Out could focus on was the boys sniveling. "OK! I really need some peace and quiet right now but I know that uh tensions are high so how about we just get Pistion here to play some music for us? Sound good?” Knock Out didn’t give the boy any time to respond as he turned on the radio to a familiar station. He needed to think. What was he going to do? He had one arm and no other plans past get the kid to a hospital for drugs and food. If it had been the Autobots back there like he suspected it was likely they wouldn’t be making it home. Which meant no place to drop Raf off once he had the boy in a better condition. He could take him back to Marion but he knew the boy had a family. How was he going to find the boy’s family? What was he going to say to them? How was he going to get away after he dropped Raf off? Someone was going to notice the gaping hole filled with metal where his arm used to be. Knock Out didn’t know if he could make it all the way across the country with the energon he had stolen and he couldn’t pay for a human service looking like a red-light Terminator. He could just cover the wound up after he cleaned it up. Humans lost limbs too and it was rude to ask them about it so all he would really need is a new shirt. There had to be some sort of clothes in the hospital. Problem solved. All he would need is money and if earth was anything like Cybertron at all Knock Out knew how to rack up cash.

* * *

 

 

It was night by the time Knock Out reached the hospital. Raf had slipped into an uneasy sleep but blearily clung to Knock Out when he picked him up. As he slammed the door he nudged the tire with his ped to get the Vehicon's attention. “Don’t leave or I’ll tell Megatron you helped the Autobots kidnap me and the pet. There’s energon in your trunk but don’t drink it unless it’s necessary. We have a long time coming together and what you’ve got is it. I’ll come out and see you tomorrow.” The drone flashed his lights in understanding, too delirious himself to speak.

Breaking in was easy enough. Jasper was a ghost town and it had been nearly there even before the Con attack. Poor town meant little to no security and Knock Out felt alive as he climbed the pitch black stairwells. The smell of bleach and musty walls sending him back to Cybertron. There was nothing quite like home than an abandoned hospital.

He found the cleanest room to set Raf down in, hearing him hiss and yelp as he stretched out the boy's limbs. “Where are we?” Raf mumbled as he looked up at Knock Out pitifully.

“Hospital. Give me an hour to recharge and then I will fix you up.” Knock Out slumped to the floor and leaned back against the wall. He really was exhausted.

“Ok.” Raf looked just as bad and felt even worse but felt too guilty to say anything. He easily drifted back to sleep despite the pain he was in. When he awoke the next morning he was in a different room and in different clothes. He felt better too, clean and pain-free. Knock Out was nowhere to be seen.

Raf couldn’t help but panic after ten minutes. Knock Out had abandoned him he was sure of it. The Con had done what he promised so in his mind he was free to leave. After what felt like hours of bawling his eyes out Raf tried to get up. The IV tugged at his arm making him panic more. Raf tried not to scream as the world around him started to numb. Why had Knock Out left him like this! How could he have left him like this?

Too much of a wimp to free himself from the IV Raf used the stand it was attached to as a crutch. He had been to the hospital before so he was sure he could find his way to a working phone. He did find a phone but big surprise all the electricity was off. He was stupid, So stupid. Why was he so stupid! What was he going to do all on his own? Raf wandered blindly till his strength gave out. He felt sick and all he felt like doing was lying on the floor. Screaming at himself and the void around him just to remind how stupid he was for thinking someone like Knock Out would actually care enough about him.

He felt even worse when Knock Out found him. The mech had looked distraught panting and carrying a service sized can of fruit cocktail. He tried not to scream but his ranting was scolding enough. Knock Out carried Raf back regardless. Still, he feared the medic's frustration was building. Raf couldn’t blame him he was acting like a mess.

Knock Out waited till Raf was settled back in his room to question the young boy. “What happened! Why did you run away like that?”

Knock Out was clearly angry. Raf didn’t want to answer him and make it worse. He didn’t want to say anything that would make Knock Out leave him. Raf felt sick again. The pain in his leg coming through was not nearly as worse as the excruciating tightness in his chest though.“Knock Out I don’t feel good.”

“That’s not an excuse to run away! If anything that’s a reason to not move!”

Raf curled himself up and took in large gulps of air. The last thing he wanted to do was vomit on himself again. He couldn’t keep messing up. Knock Out would get fed up and leave! “I’m sorry forget I said anything.”

“What? What’s wrong now? Just telling me you don’t feel good doesn’t help me!” Knock Out tried to keep his voice soft and calm but he couldn’t hide his frustration. Raf stayed silent not wanting to exacerbate a nonexistent issue.

The boy had worked himself into another panic about something that much the medic could tell! Knock Out had sworn he had put these sorts of days behind him. He had to keep reminding himself miniCon face. Knock Out looked around on the tray of medicines he had brought up. The child was probably just in pain again. An easy fix. He had Raf drowsy and listless in no time.

Raf watched Knock Out leave but was too drugged up to say anything. He watched the clock go by slowly, the insignificant numbers likely off. It blinked a new number every now and again only to go back later. When had the clock turned on? After an hour he felt sick again. Raf had tried to wait, tried to be patient but he ended up screaming Knock Out’s name till his throat was sore. He cried and begged but Knock Out didn’t return. Exhausted he fell asleep.

The feeling of Knock Out’s talons running through his hair woke Raf up. he felt his chest tighten. He felt relieved but somehow worse. Knock Out would leave again and he would panic again. Raf was tired of being sick! He was tired of being scared! He didn’t want Knock Out to leave. He was already leaving again! Why did he keep leaving? Why did he keep torturing him like this?

Knock Out had come in the check on Raf. The child had been running hot since they arrived and Knock Out knew they couldn’t stay like that for long so he had been going through whatever texts he could find and searching through the computers. He thought Raf would be fine on his own as long as he wasn’t in pain. As he pulled open the door though Raf started screaming and begging for him not to leave. No amount of consoling or reasoning seeming to work on him. It dawned on the medic that Raf might have thought he was just going to up and leave him if he turned out to be too troublesome. Knock Out wasn’t going to lie the thought dawned on him but he always scolded himself out of it! He was just so rusty with patients like this.

After Raf's little meltdown Knock Out almost never left him alone. He only made small trips to get more medicine or check on the drone, and one trip to fix up his arm socket. He had found some silicon putty to seal it with and while it was bright purple and obvious it kept him safe from water. His constant company and occasional comforting, and dialing down the pain medication quelled Raf's fears and the boy was finally starting to look better. He was at least awake a lot more and hungry again. Knock Out opened the large can he had picked up almost a week ago and spooned some of the contents into a more manageable bowl. “Here. I don’t know what this is but it’s food.”

Raf smiled nervously as he took the food and spoon Knock Out held out to him. The medic was in better spirits but he still seemed irritable. He paced around the room a lot, sketched constantly on anything he wanted, and read whatever he could find whenever he got bored of that. It painted a pretty distinct picture of the mech really. Knock Out always needed something to do most of the time. He hadn’t been leaving to get away, well he had but not to get away from Raf at least. Raf was still worried about pushing Knock Out too far though. It was clear that the mech had fears of his own he was worrying about and Raf was just one more burden “I actually like fruit cocktail. Thanks, Knock Out.” Raf ate slowly not trying to think, only bothering Knock Out to get more syrupy fruit. The Con was switching through the meager tv channels stopping randomly on things now again and again before clicking off. He did it mindlessly for about half an hour before Raf made a remark about seeing something he liked. After finding it Knock Out went back to doodling on the wall. Raf knew he shouldn’t feel guilty but the mech just looked so miserable. “I’m sorry you’re stuck with me.”

“Why?”

“You look miserable.”

“I haven’t trained this face to smile naturally.” Knock Out forced his face into a smile. “Better?”

“I don’t want you to pretend to be happy. I know you’re not.”

“Well I’m certainly not miserable and I’m not stuck with you. We’re just stuck here until I feel it’s safe to take you on the road again. It’s not a big deal.”

“I’m sorry I freaked out. I kept thinking you were going to leave me here alone.”

“It’s fine Raf. You had every right to be scared.”

“You would have left me?”

“No, but I can’t say I’ve never done it. We all get stressed out sometimes.”

“They relied on you. How could you abandon them?”

“I wasn’t always so ruthless and there were a lot of lost causes. I’m a natural born killer but I still had hope that a better mech could have spared me my mistakes.”

“Oh.”

“Or maybe I just hate whiners and didn’t feel like dirtying my servos that cycle. Take your pick. One or both of those reasons might be true.”


	8. Never Easy

Raf woke up alone that morning. He was getting used to it though.The longer they stayed at the hospital the safer Raf felt around Knock Out. Well enough to let the mech go out and raid what stores he could find while he fiddled around on the computer. It was nice to finally be able to use technology without the fear of one of the Decepticons swooping down on them, even if the hospital computers hadn’t been updated since the late 90’s. Someone at the hospital must have known some sort of wizard to just get Windows XP running on them. Still, any internet was better than no internet. Checking his regular sites got him nothing and with the government cover, Raf wasn’t exactly expecting a news story on whether or not Megatron had finally managed to take over Nevada. After sending a few emails out in hopes of reply and spending an ungodly amount of time on minesweeper Raf was getting bored. He pushed himself away from the desk and rolled himself free of the tight space. It took him a few tries to get the angle right. He still wasn’t used to the wheelchair yet.

After some mindless rolling up and down the hall Raf set his mind to find the children’s section of the hospital in hopes he could at least find some books to read. As he crossed the skywalk he spotted the vehicon lying in his robot form on the grass. Panic welled in Raf’s chest. What was he still doing here? He should be with Knock Out! Raf found his way outside as quick as he could. “HEY!” Out of breath and slightly panicky Raf managed to roll on the grass to confront the mech.

The drone shifted and sat up, crossing his legs the best he could before leaning down to lift Raf up. “Hi!” He seemed really enthusiastic to see the tiny human.

Stuttering through the onsetting panic Raf managed to get his thought out.“W-w-w-why are you still here?”

“Well that’s rude I mean I drove you here. I can’t just go back without being executed.” Raf was beginning to understand why Knock Out hated the drones. Could they not understand emotions that weren’t stupid alien emotions!

“No. Why aren’t you with Knock Out?”

“Oh.” The drone flopped back onto the grass, sighing heavily as he rolled onto his side to set Raf safely down. “He just ran to town. Said he’s faster on foot and he didn’t need me wasting energon for a few miles.”

That did not sound right, in fact, that sounded like bullshit! “But it has to be in the nineties out! What if he overheats and passes out in the street?”

The drones visor brightened a few shades with worry. “C-can that happen?”

A sharp whine started slowly creeping in, tinging Raf’s voice to something he hated. “I don’t know but probably! My laptop crashes if I leave it on my bed for too long I can only imagine how much heat Knock Out can take and it’s not much.”

“Y-yeah but Knock Out’s smart! He knows his limits.”

This was not good! Raf wanted to vomit again, why was everything Knock Out did so shady?! “What- What if he just said that so he could steal another car and leave us here.”

“He couldn’t do that!” The drone paused for a moment as he worried. Knock Out could honestly do whatever he wanted. He knew the most about human culture and had been stuck living as one for a month already. What was stopping him? “Well he could but why would he?”

“Why does he do anything? Why should he stay?” Again the drone spaced out searching for an answer.

“Yeah. Well, we don’t need him!”

“I do. None of my friends have answered my emails and the Autobots might be dead.”

“Well, I’ll help you. I can’t do anything either. If I go back to Megatron without Knock Out he would just kill me like I said.”

“You can help by looking for him.”

“How would that help? What if he did run away and doesn’t want to be found? I can’t just waste energon like that!”

“How much energon can you waste just driving into town?”

“Enough! Our engines are slag kid.” The vehicon picked up Raf’s chair and set him on a flat piece of his frame. “Maybe we should just wait. Maybe we’re just letting our processors get the better of us.”

“Maybe.”

“Yeah, cause why would he spend all his time helping you only to run away.”

“Because I’m starting to get better. I’m not his problem if he thinks I can take care of myself.”

“Well if that’s what you’re worried about then you’re being stupid. The Doc doesn’t think anyone can take care of themselves. He was constantly telling us how worthless we were and how we would have died without him.”

“Yeah and he still didn’t treat you well!”

“Yeah...but we don’t really hold it against him.”

“Really?” Raf was skeptical. He knew that some of the Vehicons had alliances and….crushes on some of the higher-ups that made them stay loyal but that had usually been Starscream or Breakdown or even Soundwave but he had never heard about any of the Vehicons being fond of Knock Out.

“Well, I don’t. I’m sure some do but most of us get it. He’s just jaded and knew we were going to get hurt and he was going to have to waste supplies on us but there’s nothing he could have done to make us better equipped. It got old. Just gets tiring after a while. For him and us. Can’t blame him for getting tired of a vicious cycle. There’s a reason he was the only medic Starscream could get after all.”

“He’s a doctor! He knew what he was getting into.”

“That’s a laugh. You really think any mech knew our war was going to turn this nasty? You’re young. You’ve barely had a life. You’ll understand the feeling on some level eventually.”

“I honestly hope I don’t.” Their conversation died there. Raf didn’t want to keep talking and the Vehicon aside from making small talk wasn’t really encouraging any engaging conversation. Raf wouldn’t have bothered even if he had though. He was starting to feel sick again.

So he sat with the vehicon just waiting in the comforting warmth of the sun for as long as he could stand before falling asleep. The vehicon had helped him out of his chair so he could stretch out in the grass but as the sun started to dip low in the sky the air started to get cold and Raf had to go back inside. The Vehicon had offered to let Raf sleep inside of him but in all honesty, he felt safer inside the hospital. So with a bit of help, the drone had him back in his wheelchair and on the even pavement.

As the young boy slowly rolled his way back up to the floor he had been on something terrifying happened. Somewhere close a phone started to ring. A phone. In an abandoned hospital. Started to ring. Raf felt an icy chill wash over him and he wanted to cry again. Why was this happening to him? Why was this happening now? Where was Knock Out when he needed him? Slowly despite his fear Raf rolled down the hall. He had sent out some emails. Even if no one could reply to him they might have been able to find out where he was from his server. Maybe it was agent Fowler! Raf pushed forward with a new confidence until he finally found the ringing phone at a nurses station and after a few moments of arguing with himself, he answered it.

“H-h-hello? Agent Fowler?”

“Raf? Did you get in contact with that government guy? Should I get off this line?” Raf’s heart continued to pound in his chest despite his relief.

“Knock Out! Where are you it’s almost night!” There was a long pause and Raf swore he could hear other voices in the background.

“I know. I went to go earn some money. I had to drive a pretty far way to find a town with people in it. I’ll be back by morning I promise.”

Raf’s stomach sank. So he had been right. Knock Out had found another car and had left….but he called. He made enough of an effort to successfully contact him. That was something. “Why do you need money? Where do you plan on going?” Knock Out paused again and again Raf could hear the sound of another person in the room. A lot of people in fact.

“The new Mexico. I don’t know what was so bad with the old one but that’s where the government sent your family. I think. I managed to sneak into an abandoned government building and they had like a census report for the evacuation. Probably wanted to keep an optic on residents who might know more than they let on. I don’t know.”

“MY AUNT AND UNCLE LIVE IN NEW MEXICO!” The dread that had settled over Raf was momentarily lifted. He could go be with his parents! Knock Out was going to take him all the way to his family! Still….what was stopping Megatron from blowing up another city? If the Bots had lost no place was safe. “Knock Out….did you find anything else?”

“I got a bunch of stuff. Just go to sleep and I’ll be back in the morning.”

“Information?”

“Oh...no. Nothing like that. Don’t worry about that right now. We’ll talk more when I get back. Just try to sleep and if your leg starts to hurt take one of the green capsule pills okay.”

“Alright. See you in the morning?” Dread was seeping back in. He was going to be alone again.

“I promise. Get some sleep.” Raf could tell Knock Out was trying to sound as sincere as he could but it wasn’t doing much for the boy’s nerves.

___________  
“Bye Knock Out.” Knock Out could tell by Raf's tone that this probably wasn’t the best idea, but there was nothing else he could do. He needed money if he wanted to go anywhere, he needed gas for the car he’d stolen, and he needed to keep Raf fed. New Mexico wasn’t terribly far, less than a day’s journey but he had no idea what he was going to do after that. Drive all the way back to Main? How much was that going to cost? What if Marion and Breakdown weren’t there!?

A touch on his back pulled Knock Out from his worrying. The light lilt of the femme who had let him borrow her communicator followed. “Everything all right with your kid? They hanging in alright? It’s always hard on them the first time you have to leave them home alone but they get used to it quick trust me, love.”

Knock Out cleared his vocalizer, “Hmm, yeah. He’s just easily excitable and by that, I mean prone to panic.” The femme gave him a knowing look. Knock Out handed her phone back over.

“Well, I’m sure he knows you’re working hard for him despite it. I don’t know how you’re still on your feet. Amy told me you were here as soon as the place opened and you already looked like death and you still asked for a few sets? How long do you plan on being here?” The woman leaned lightly against a pillar that led to the back service room, making the most out of the short break they shared.

“As long as I can. I need money and the man said aside from tips to get cash I had to wait until closing.”

“Oh, hun you can always come back though. You don’t need to stay here if you don’t need the hours.”

“I need the hours.” Primus this was becoming all too real for Knock Out. Different place, different crowd but the same feeling.

“Well, I can not wait to see you work that stage. If you need help with your makeup or clothes come find me alright?”

“I will. Thank you Gleam.” The femme gave him another comforting touch, Knock Out watched her glitter as she turned to head back to the bar. Her gem studded skin refracting in the fluxing lights of the house.

Knock Out didn’t know what depraved luck had led him to the strange pleasure theater but the owner took one look at him, another look at him dance and had one of his other workers slap on some face paint and a uniform and handed him a tray. Informing him that he’d have his time on the stage that night. Knock Out had no idea what humans liked in their provocative displays but he figured if it made the boss happy he could just do a few of his old sets. He swore he could almost hear Revamp’s voice in the back of his processor telling him he needed to make sure he kept his aft in the air and show off more leg. Part of him wanted to die but part of him was excited to dance. It had been so long since he’d had to stoop so low for extra cash, long enough to take the sting out of the act. As long as he could imagine Breakdown was there in the audience instead of a slew of horny humans he could get through the night. His battery pack was holding up at least and his arm wasn’t throbbing anymore.

Over the sound of the pounding music, someone called to him, his break over. Reaching down Knock Out adjusted the straps on his heels and headed off to the bar. Gleam was already off serving so he had the pleasure of dealing with the bartender alone, a tall lanky man with a bright shock of blue hair and a lavender glass eye. He’d been slightly painted to look like a lizard.

“Hey there Red, just a heads up there’s a big table of really drunk newbies that just came in. They seem like your brand. You said you wanted cash so the boss told me to ask you. They just asked about lap dances so if you’re up for it it’s yours. Your sets almost up too so you might as well.”

Knock Out fiddled with his necklace to check his power, walking around waiting tables was one thing but he hadn’t really exerted himself since the escape. Everything still seemed good though. “I’ll go grab Gleam then.”

It took the femme a moment to get a break but she was rushing into the back room by the time Knock Out was slipping his costume on. Trying not to get tangled in all the strange fiberoptics and el wire that cascaded from his short bustle skirt. Gleam helpfully tucked away all the small battery packs before shoving him into a seat. Was it tacky that he was an alien robot, living in an android body, pretending to be a robot? Yes. Did he care? No, because it was better than being some sort of hot zombie. Knock Out swore he would never fully understand humans.

“I swear this outfit is so cute. It suits you. Rocking your sexy little bitch face. I bet you could get fun work in Vegas. I know a girl who runs a pain den if you could see yourself doing that. ” Knock Out was too busy admiring Gleam’s steady servo to work through whatever any of that meant but he had an idea. He still wasn’t up to snuff with his new digits and talons and it drove him mad with every tiny mistake he made.

“It’s certainly something. Pain den huh?”Gleam just laughed softly.

“I know this isn’t as nice as the escort work you probably got in Vegas but Henry is really nice and we pay more than any of the other houses in the area. I sort of hope to see you as a regular.” Primus humans were so strange, this woman had just met him a few hours ago! Humans didn’t have the time to wait around though he supposed and to be fair he knew bots who loved being social too, it was just never really his forte. He could lie and charm all cycle every cycle but to really get to know someone was hard for him. “I hope you don’t mind me talking your ear off but most of the girls here are young, looking for extra cash or even a bit of fun, you sound like you’ve known the business for a little longer than they have. I’ve worked here so long I actually own some of this place so it means a lot to me to get to know the girls who plan on staying.”

“You didn’t mention that.” Gleam smiled, her laugh lines bracketing her face. Even with them her age only accented her beauty. She twirled her long silvery blue hair as she continued to paint seam lines all over Knock Out’s frame.

“I like for everyone to think of me as an equal. This was and is the only job I've ever known save for a bit of waitressing elsewhere. I want to hear what the girls think of me, even if I'm a bitch to them. It’s hard seeing an old lady looking so good and getting so much attention so I don’t hold it against them.” Gleam stuck out her glossia in what Knock Out could only assume was a cute manner. “My real name is Shannon by the way. I figured you’ve lasted long enough to earn that.”

“I’ve only been working here for nine hours.”

“And you didn’t run screaming after Lana’s set. Welcome to the team as far as I’m concerned.”

Knock Out couldn’t explain what made him feel so comfortable around the place but despite being human Gleam reminded him mechs he once knew.. Maybe it was the similarity of how he’d once had to spend his time. The dark room and leering optics desperate to see exotic mechs a more universal idea then he’d once thought. Maybe that was what drew Autobots to humans, let Breakdown be at ease with Marion. He’d mentioned their similarities often enough. If one ignored the differences all that was left was similarities after all. “I’ll probably show up for a few more nights, then I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Gleam placed another kind servo on his shoulder, “It get’s better sweetheart. Trust me it does.” Knock Out nodded. Not so much feeling guilty that her kind words were unearned but that they were...misplaced and honestly that they were sorely needed for him at all. He’d forgotten what it was like to have friends, any mech that wasn’t Breakdown who actually knew what he was going through and could relate. “Now go out there and earn us both some money. Dazzles those idiots till they're broke for me.” Laughing lightly as she finished adjusting Knock Out’s costume she pat him a little rougher on the back and sent him out to entertain the table.  
________________________

Raf woke up screaming, chilled with sweat again. He was so tired. Megatron had found them and was bombing the hospital to the ground. Everything was on fire and he was trapped under piles of rubble slowly choking to death on the smoke, and being cooked alive from the heat. Except, of course, he wasn’t. The hospital was fine, deserted and a little cold but fine and despite the sun just peeking over the horizon he was alone. Arms folded over his good leg Raf nestled his head in the space as he looked out through the slightly dirty window. To be fair Knock Out had said he’d be back by morning and the morning had only just started.

The longer Raf sat in the silence the more he swore he heard something. He’d been hearing a lot of things lately thanks to his nerves but this time it sounded close. Struggling into his wheelchair the boy gathered whatever courage he had left and went out into the still dark halls of the hospital. The sound he was hearing was music. Muffled and distant but music. Fear seized Raf’s heart despite willing himself on. It had to be Knock Out, it had to be Knock Out, it HAD to be Knock Out. The small radio from the nurse's station was gone. The ancient computer on despite Raf knowing he turned it off. It had to be Knock Out.

Despite how he continued to tell himself that his brain wouldn’t quiet of all the other scenarios ranging from homeless folks who the government had missed, to zombies and other monsters and ghosts that were luring him into a trap. Raf could feel his heart racing as he neared the large staff washroom where the music was coming from. “Please be Knock Out, please be Knock Out, please!” Carefully pushing open the door Raf heard the sound of water as well as the music; he called out. “Knock Out? Are you in here?" There was no answer, Raf moved further inside, letting the door fall closed behind him. He could smell steam and the warmth of the place warmed his skin so the shower must have been on a long time if it was filling the room. Maybe it was a ghost, maybe it was a trap!

With shaking fingers Raf managed to pull himself the rest of the way to the back of the room, each of the shower stalls were covered by doors and curtains. All of which were open and pulled closed. Raf could see the splatter of water on the floor of the one that was running, the radio just on the other side of the tile privacy wall to stop it from getting ruined. “Knock Out? Knock Out please don’t try and scare me.” Raf hated how soft his voice had gotten, sure he could yell at Megatron all he wanted but throw him in a scary room and he clammed up. What was wrong with him!

Ripping back the curtain Raf immediately felt stupid! Of course, it was Knock Out, there was no way it was anyone other than Knock Out….or at least another human. Sighing Raf covered his eyes, a blush already forming on his cheeks. Knock Out may have just been a robot but he was completely naked….and maybe Miko had a point but Raf didn’t want to think about that. He supposed they were even now though, not that they ever needed to be. Gosh, this was awkward again.

A new worry bloomed in Raf’s mind. Knock Out was leaning pretty heavily against the wall, if he’d fallen asleep it was one thing….but they hadn’t grabbed his charger. Megatron still had that! All Knock Out had was the battery pack he’d made for himself and if that was all he’d been running on they’d been gone for more than a week! If he was dead again there was nothing raf could do! Panic quickly setting in again Raf inched forward and tugged on Knock Out’s good arm. It still felt warm, whatever was beneath the skin still soft and flexible like real flesh. Raf remembered Marion’s offlined androids being stiff and hard so maybe that was a good sign? He tugged a little harder.

If Raf hadn’t been sitting and a child Knock Out would have backhanded him so hard it would have likely taken off his head! That was at least Raf’s personal assessment as Knock Out’s fist soared over his head and cracked into the privacy wall sending tile and chunks of concrete flying down the floor. He screamed a stream of garbled nonsense at Raf before swearing loudly and curling up into the corner of the shower. “Sweet Solas prime why!?”

Raf stuttered as he slowly backed up, fear gripping him from the Con’s outburst and whatever the hell had happened to his eyes. The normal human brown now looking eerily familiar to his old black rimmed optics. “I’m-I-s-I-ah-”

“SHUT! UP! JUST SHUT YOUR USELESS LITTLE MOUTH!”

It took all Raf had no to scream thanks to Knock Out’s sudden outburst. Yet despite achieving that goal as he tried to shove himself back away from the bot he expertly managed to tip back his chair and slam his head into the ground, the rest of the chair falling over him uselessly as he tried to roll over and crawl away. He sat in the corner of the washroom as quietly as he could desperately trying not to sob, even as his chest heaved and every worst fear raced through his mind. This was it, he’d finally screwed up big time! Knock Out was just going to leave him or hell maybe even kill him just to be free! He’d been so close! He should have just stayed in his room, he should have just stayed quiet! Knock Out had told him he’d be back by morning, he’d told him! He should have just listened!

Too busy panicking and trying to make himself unnoticeable Raf didn’t hear Knock Out’s wet footsteps as they came towards him, only lowering his arms at the slight crashing of Knock Out setting his chair right. Raf tried to crawl further away but he was against the wall, there was no further to go. Knock Out sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him, head quickly falling into his hands. He looked exhausted. “Did you want to take a shower?”

Raf’s lips moved wordlessly. Whatever rage and frustration had built up in the bot was gone now, Knock Out back to his irritated but ultimately calm self. Part of him did want to take a shower, he’d been sitting greasy for a while and his leg was starting to itch and smell but that wasn’t why he had come in. “Y-y-yes. A-are you okay?” Knock Out just sighed deeply, leaning forward he carefully pulled him over.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

“I-it’s alright I-” Raf cut himself off from apologizing. It wasn’t his fault. Even if he could practically feel the tension in Knock Out’s frame as he undid the bandages of his splint. He hadn’t done anything. He- It just wasn’t his fault! “What happened to your eyes? They’ve gone black around the edges.”

“It’s sealer. I couldn’t find any white so I had to use black. I couldn’t shower without sealing them better and...I needed a shower. Took forever to sculpt so I could still see but it was worth it. Marion had planned to fix the problem for me but she just never found the time.”

“You look horrifying.”

“Good.” Pulling off the last bits of bandage and plastic Knock Out tossed the mess into a corner, grimacing at the sight of it, soaked in sickly green and white pus, encrusted in black scab and reeking like death. Humans were so fucking disgusting. Easily picking up Raf. Knock out set him down near just close enough to the spray that he could inch himself further into the water when he wanted. “Let me go find you some soap and rags or something.” Raf was about to ask why since Knock Out had obviously cleaned off with something but immediately regretted looking around. This was worse than being in the school locker rooms. Damn it, Miko!.  
Luckily Knock Out let him clean himself off for the most part. Only really coming in so Raf couldn’t baby his wound. The huge scab that clung the skin was sore and stiff and Raf hated looking at it so he was grateful even if it was super embarrassing and Knock Out was a lot rougher than Raf thought he needed to be. It was nice to be clean by the end of it. As he dried off Knock Out left and brought back new clothes. They were nice if a little big. Knock Out even made him a few grilled cheese. Raf scarfed them down as Knock Out reset his leg.

“I can’t believe you actually went to the store. I can’t believe you actually did work to get money. I- You’re a lot smarter than I thought you were Knock Out. You’ve only been a human for like a month and you’re already like an adult. I feel like...if this had happened to one of the bots they’d be kinda clueless.”

“You humans set the bar quite low for being an adult then. Doing work? Knowing how to buy things? Anyone should know how to do that.’ Taping the last bandage down Knock Out stood and stretched. “Alright, I’m heading back out. I’ll be back same time tomorrow.”

Raf nearly choked on his food. “Hck- WHAT? You just got back!”

Knock Out just glared down at him. “What’s the matter? You’re clean and I fed you. We need money before I can take you to your family. I’m sure you’re used to your parent's jobs you clingy little gremlin. Play with Doorstop if you miss your bug just stay out of trouble.”

“That’s not his name!” Knock Out silently mouthed his disinterest as he headed out the door leaving Raf alone again.

Things continued like that for another silent week, Knock Out would come back to the hospital around six in the morning and then leave again at nine. He’d bleach himself down, take a shower, then make something for Raf to eat. Sometimes he’d even bring Raf food, the boy almost died of happiness when the Con tossed a styrofoam box of waffles at him that were actually still warm.

He softened over the days and Raf quickly realized irritated was just a personality trait for him. He panicked less when he asked for things, even started asking questions. Knock Out didn’t answer many of them but he answered enough. He certainly wasn’t how he was with Bee, or even on the Nemesis. He was withdrawn and quiet and still ultimately terrifying.

When Raf woke up that next Monday Knock Out was still there charging even though it was well past ten, Raf had no clue where he picked up the new charging cable but he’d stopped questioning the things Knock Out managed to get done. He smelled clean already, like bleach and soap but Raf could see specks of silver glitter still clinging to his skin. “Is something wrong Knock Out?” The mech looked up from his book.

“We’re leaving today I should have enough money and you haven’t gotten sick over yourself since Wednesday.”

Raf winced, Knock Out had warned him not to eat so fast...but he’d been starving. “Sorry about that.” Knock Out only shrugged.

“It happens. Are you hungry?” Raf was starving. He’d been nothing but starving for the past month practically either on the road with Bee or stuck with terrifying robots who knew next to nothing about humans. Raf nodded. “Do you want to go someplace or do you want me to make you something. We still have bread and the other stuff you told me to buy but you like it better when I bring you stuff from other places and I have plenty of money.”

“C-” Raf’s voice stuck in his throat, he was getting better at asking Knock Out for things but if they were going to be leaving today he didn’t want to preemptively get the mech aggravated. “C-can we do both. Like...you make me something now and we actually stop for food later. I don’t want to waste money but I might pass out. I-” Raf didn’t know what to say so Knock Out would understand. “I need to eat more than once a day.”

Knock Out let his book drop into his lap, exhaustion etched on his face. “What?”

Raf sucked in a sharp breath and tried to bury himself in the blankets. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Ignore what I said!

“STOP SAYING THAT! What is wrong with you!?”

“I’m sorry! Please stop yelling at me!”

“NO!” Raf could practically feel the rage coming off of Knock Out now. How could he not get it? How could he not understand how terrifying he was to deal with! Raf tried to lurch away when Knock Out grabbed for him but the mech was way too strong. “Are you trying to kill yourself, why didn’t you tell me that?! I can see your little corpse framework why didn’t you tell me you don’t like that?!”

“DON’T YELL AT ME!” Raf clawed desperately at the arm holding him, panic already making him sick. “Please Knock Out let me go!”

“ANSWER ME THEN! NOW!” Raf felt his chest tighten as his eyes started to sting with tears.

“B-b-Because you're an asshole! You’re a fucking dick who does whatever he wants! I didn’t want you to leave me!” Knock Out roughly slammed Raf back into the bed, his hands twitching as they curled into fists.

“YOU’RE A LITTLE FRAGGING IDIOT WHO’S GOING TO GET ME KILLED!” Storming out Knock Out slammed the door behind him so hard it splintered at one of the hinges and broke free. It took Knock Out five hours to come back and Raf was sure he did it just to make him suffer.  
He tossed another styrofoam container at him then promptly left again. Looks like they weren’t leaving tonight.

Late afternoon Raf steeled himself when he heard Knock Out’s footsteps nearing his room again. It certainly wasn’t because he was in pain, it certainly wasn’t because he’d fallen out of bed and cracked his nose on the floor, and it certainly wasn’t because he’d thrown up all over himself during another panic attack. He was fine. He was just going to tell Knock Out he was fine because he was fine.

“Raf? Are you asleep?” Knock Out flicked the lights on, Raf prayed he didn’t come any closer. “I brought you some soup and another hot sandwich. I googled the proper amount of calories you little slag sacks need since I can’t trust you to just tell me so hopefully, this is better.”

When the boy didn’t respond a second time Knock Out found a place to set the tray down and headed over. Knock Out couldn’t exactly place how but something was off. As he got closer he noticed the balled up blanket in the corner and the sharp line of Raf’s bare spine through the thin sheets. He sighed internally as he slipped a servo on the boy’s face. He was hot and sweaty and trembling so hard Knock Out wouldn’t have been surprised if he was dying again. Carefully he pulled him from the blankets and held him. Raf smelled like vomit. Knock Out knew this was his fault and he knew better, he knew what it was like dealing with someone who couldn’t help getting nervous and sick. He shouldn’t have let his temper get the better of him.

He held the boy tightly as he ran his digits through damp hair. “You make me miss drinking.” Not appreciating the Cons brand of humor Raf just whimpered and sobbed. Knock Out sighed heavily as he sat down on the bed. “I’m not going to leave you, so tell me what happened.”

By the time Knock Out got Raf showered and fed it was already deep into the night. Despite Raf telling him he was fine again and again Knock Out re-splinted his leg, found a new blanket and settled him down again. He was exhausted, no matter his levels Knock Out hadn’t put in this much emotional labor since Breakdown. A lot of Raf’s issues reminded him of Breakdown. His anxiety, his fear of being left alone, his poor constitution. Honestly, he hated it, he hated it so much. He’d already gone through it once so there was no need to go through it again! He was a field medic, not a nanny! Still when the boy weak and desperate asked him to stay and recharge with him instead of out by the nurse's station Knock Out willed his peds to turn around and head back to the boy’s side. Falling heavily onto the small bed Knock Out plugged in his charger and closed his optics. He felt Raf inch closer.  
“You smell like floor cleaner.”

“Is it better than car wax?” Raf shook his head. “Shame. Go to sleep.”

By morning Knock Out was carrying Raf out of the hospital and setting him up in the backseat of the car he’d stolen. Pipes was at his back and whining in his audial.

“S-so what do you expect me to do? Just be alone? Are you really just going to leave me here?” Knock Out was getting so tired of clingy slaggers.

“Listen! I can’t buy energon like I can gas so I can’t take you across the country. You have enough fuel to last you another month and a half, I told you where a mine was, I told you an easy way to refine it without equipment, I gave you Marion’s cell phone number. Stay alive and call it every few weeks asking for Breakdown. When someone finally picks up he’ll help you. I can’t help you and him at the same time.”

“What if no one answers ever?”

“Then you are just as screwed as I am so perhaps fate will curse us back together again! What more do you want? You want to go back to the Nemesis and die?”

The vehicon huffed dramatically. “No. Stay...alive I guess.”

“Same….. to you.” There was no reason for this speed bump to get sentimental. Knock Out gave the vehicon one last wave goodbye then got in the car. Marion had been right, it was nicer when he was behind the wheel, even if they weren’t his own wheels.

As Knock Out turned onto the main road, trying is best to follow the paper route he’d printed from the archaic computer the sun basked him in the warm golden glow of the morning. Everything was calm, everything was quiet, and everything was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want a better mental image for KO's android body look up Super Junior's Mr. Simple Siwon promotional pictures. Slap on some manic panic red hair dye and some stiletto nails and you got KO. For Breakdown just combine The Rock, Ash Williams, and Scar from fullmetal alchemist and bam there you go.


End file.
